The case for Nerlens Noel to the Minnesota Timberwolves
Nerlens Noel was drafted sixth overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, but he’s fallen out of the rotation in Dallas. A fresh start with the Minnesota Timberwolves could be a great situation for Noel.
Despite having a winning record, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a negative plus/minus of -0.1, 17th in the league. Minnesota has a chance to become an elite team, or things could fall apart as problems with their defense persist. There are not many young and agile rim-protectors available, but there also aren’t a ton of players in a situation like Nerlens Noel.
They were multiple reports going around Noel’s contract negotiations with the Mavericks. He reportedly turned down a four-year, $70 million contract, and ended up playing on his one-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer that allows him to become an unrestricted free agent in 2018.
The gamble to bet on himself has not worked out well for Noel. He currently sits on a weird Dallas roster. In the month of November, Noel is averaging 7.3 minutes per game, and still also receives the occasional DNP-Coach’s Decision.
Noel needs a situation where a coach would play him to his strengths. It would be preferable for Noel that the team showcase him so he can get paid on the open market, and the team that inherits Noel will want him to help their team on defense. Minnesota is the perfect fit.
The Gorgui Dieng dilemma
Gorgui Dieng was signed to a four-year, $64 million contract last year. The deal made sense when Dieng started games at center as Karl-Anthony Towns played the 4. Now, Dieng gets minutes for a bench unit that struggles heavily. He is shooting a career-low 46.9 percent from the field.
Dieng is attempting to stretch his range out to the 3-point line, and the results are poor so far as he is shooting 27.3 percent from 3-point range. His feet are not quick enough to switch onto point guards in the pick-and-roll, which still happens too often. Noel could re-invigorate the bench unit with his pick-and-roll defense alone.
The Nerlens Noel solution
Minnesota love to run the pick-and-roll in general, but they love to go the pick-and-roll even more when their bench unit — led by Jamal Crawford and Nemana Bjelica — comes in. Noel would be devastating rolling down the paint. Crawford is adept at throwing lobs over the top for athletic finishers, and if teams try to take away the lob, Bjelica is still leading the NBA in 3-point percentage, at a remarkable 53.8 percent.
Noel can make the pass out of the pick-and-roll to open shooters on the wing. As of late, he even started working earnestly on adding the mid-range shot to his game. But the reason you are acquiring Noel is for his incredible defensive ability. He has the tools to be a great center in today’s NBA, and he has shown the ability to do all the things that made him top-10 pick in the first place.
The trade
The deal itself would look something like this:
It’s a move that would give Dallas Dieng, a center capable of executing Rick Carlisle‘s defensive system. Carlisle has continued to use a “center-by-committee” approach.
Dieng is signed to a team-friendly four-year deal. He would be better than any center currently on Dallas’s roster. He could slide into a 20 minutes per game role, and he would be the third-highest paid player on the team.
Nerlens Noel would come onto a Minnesota roster that has wing talent, and just needs additional help on defense. Noel would most likely be a sixth man for the T-Wolves. He would come in with Thibodeau’s bench unit of Crawford, Bjelica, Tyus Jones and Shabazz Muhammad.
Noel is way more athletic than Dieng. He would be able to switch onto guards and then deny post-entry passes so Jones isn’t getting destroyed on switches. He also has the quickness to hedge on the pick-and-roll and prevent switches in the first place.
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Minnesota needs to keep players in front of them on defense. They have the worst field goal percentage defense in the league, and is starting to look like it is not for a lack of trying. They are improvements that can be made all over the place, but this personnel change could be a huge step in the right direction for the Minnesota Timberwolves