Dallas Mavericks: 5 biggest disappointments from 2017-18 NBA season

5. The Nerlens Noel gamble

At the beginning of the regular season, big man Nerlens Noel took a big gamble on himself. Talks between Noel and the Dallas Mavericks front office stalled this past offseason after it was reported Noel declined a four-year, $70 million contract. Noel instead wanted a max contract offer, when that didn’t happen, he instead signed a one-year, $4.2 million deal, taking a gamble on himself in the process.

Noel opened the season with a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) against the Atlanta Hawks but after that, things went south in a hurry. He only registered one other double-double during the season, falling out of the rotation by the end of November.

The gamble didn’t go as planned as Noel ended up suspended for five games by season’s end for failing his third drug test for marijuana. He played arguably his worst season of basketball, averaging 4.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals per contest in 30 appearances. He missed 32 games with a thumb injury he suffered in December despite a good start to the season.

The Mavericks and Noel will likely part ways, which should be good for both sides. Noel didn’t choose to be in Dallas and the Mavericks did their due diligence with their one-year deal for him. It was still disappointing the union never went anywhere.