Nerlens Noel, the 23-year-old center whom the Dallas Mavericks acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers this season, will be a restricted free agent this summer. He may be paid handsomely, reports Mike Fisher of Scout.com:
One of the newspapers recently wrote that restricted free agent Nerlens Noel “could command $13-to-$15 mil” as a starting salary.
Meanwhile, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle labels the center a team “priority.”
It would seem that both of the above things cannot be true.A source from another NBA team (not the Mavs) tells me that there will be “multiple” clubs willing to pay Noel his max once he hits the restricted-free-agent market on July 1. And just so there is no confusion as to what that “max” is:
Assuming the cap at $101 million, as the NBA is expecting, Noel’s contract can start at 25 percent of the cap with eight-percent annual raises. That equals $25.25 mil as his starting salary and about $146.45 million over five years.
Competing bidders can offer restricted free agent Noel a four-year max deal, also worth 25 percent of the cap and also starting at $25.25 mil, but with just five-percent annual raises, equalling about $108.575 million over four years. Dallas can match any offer and retain.
If Noel opted into the final year of his contract with the Mavs, he’d be making under $6 million per year. He can unquestionably get more than that in free agency. Given the sort of money that guys like Ian Mahinmi got last summer, Noel getting the max makes some sense. Noel is a great defensive big man – a role that is highly coveted in today’s NBA. Plus, he’s only 23. The team that signs Noel to a max contract will do so in the hopes that they’re getting the next DeAndre Jordan – with more defensive versatility.
