NBA: 15 players looking to shed injury-prone label in 2017-18
2. Nerlens Noel
With the free agency market dried up and some sort of madness taking hold that convinced him turning down a four-year, $70 million offer was a good idea, Nerlens Noel is taking a bold chance on himself in 2017-18. Playing on a one-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer, Noel will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
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That means he has to deliver with the Dallas Mavericks this year, not only to prove his worth to them, but to the rest of the league as potential free agency suitors. As such, any type of setback would be devastating for a player who’s already perceived as fragile.
To be fair, Noel is only 23 years old and still has Defensive Player of the Year potential. Though he only put up 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 1.0 steals per game in his 22 appearances with the Mavs last year, it was only two years ago that he averaged an impressive 11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game with the Sixers.
Unfortunately, injuries held him out for 20 games that season, and between Philly and Dallas last year, he still only suited up for 51 games. He’s dealt with a torn left ACL that caused him to miss his entire rookie season, right knee tendinitis and more left knee problems so far in his young career.
That’s worrisome for any seven-footer, let alone such an offensively limited one. If Noel is unable to prove himself as a franchise center and defensive anchor in 2017-18, he may regret not taking that $70 million offer from the Mavs when it was on the table.