Dallas Mavericks

Making a Nerlens Noel Trade to Dallas Work

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:37 p.m. ET

Fansided, Isaac Harris/FanSided via The Smoking Cuban

The logjam up front in Philadelphia is nothing new, but with recent comments from Noel after Friday night’s game, the time could be ticking for a trade.

With Joel Embiid finally playing to his potential, Philadelphia has some decisions to make in regards to their front court. With Embiid, Okafor, Saric, Ilyasova and an eventual debut of Ben Simmons, the Sixers have their hands full with front court options.

Then you have Nerlens Noel.

Noel suited up for the game on Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers at home and played a whopping eight minutes. Yes, the former 6th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft logged just eight minutes.

After the game, Noel was pretty candid about his minutes…

Well Nerlens, I know a situation and team where you could log plenty of minutes at center….the Dallas Mavericks.

Now, I personally am not the biggest Noel fan, but much like any player in the league, he would be a nice addition for the right price. So what would it look like if Dallas wanted to trade for the young Noel in Philly?

First off, Noel is in a contract year making a little over $4 million this season as he hits free agency this summer. Dallas could wait to try to sign the center this summer, or they could attempt a trade for him right now.

Philadelphia is currently sitting on around $16 million in cap room, so absorbing a contract more than Noel’s salary would not be an issue. In fact, it will probably be something Philadelphia would want in order to hit the cap floor. The Sixers could also take back a contract and waive that contract if that player desired.

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Dallas would obviously come calling with one of their expiring veterans in Andrew Bogut or Deron Williams, but that likely won’t be enough. If Dallas was serious about acquiring the big man, attaching a first round pick would likely be a requirement. Then it would be a matter of how highly Dallas views Noel.

Dallas could try to package Justin Anderson with Andrew Bogut without attaching a first round pick and see if Philly would bite. Would Dallas give up Anderson for Noel basically? Could Philly get more than just Anderson elsewhere?

The most logical scenario I could see happening would be a three team trade where Dallas could obtain a first round pick for Bogut from another team and then send that to Philadelphia for Noel. Then Dallas could keep their first rounders and add Noel at the same time.

The possibility of Dallas obtaining Nerlens Noel all depends on how highly they view the young center coming off an injury. If they are sold, they could make a legitimate offer for the young big man.