Mavs Agree To Terms With Nerlens Noel On One-Year Deal

Coming into the NBA offseason, the Dallas Mavericks were thought to have to re-signing Nerlens Noel to a long-term deal as their top priority. Noel was expected to get a max contract signed and play in a Mavericks uniform for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately for Noel, the Mavericks were reluctant to meet his demands, and now he’s been forced to settle for a one-year deal, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.

Restricted free-agent center Nerlens Noel is re-signing with the Dallas Mavericks, league sources told ESPN.

The athletic big man signed the one-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer and will become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason of 2018, sources told ESPN.

Apparently, Dallas offered a four-year deal to Noel once NBA free agency got underway on July 1, via Haynes.

A reported $17 million offer from Dallas was nonexistent in any form, according to sources close to Noel, though league sources say a four-year, $70 million contract was offered to Noel on July 1.

Obviously, Noel wasn’t interested in the deal and chose to bet on himself next season. The big man will bank on having a breakout season and impressing the Mavs brass enough to secure a lucrative long-term deal or head elsewhere.

Dallas will now head into the 2017-18 campaign with Dirk Nowitzki under contract along with Noel and a promising young rookie in point guard Dennis Smith Jr. The team has the makings a talented young team led by a seasoned veteran. Whether the Mavs can be a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference remains to be seen, but they seem to be on the right path.