Nerlens Noel

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Even if Dieng is pushed out of Minnesota, the expression isn't: Dieng and No. 5 > Noel.

That completely ignores whatever Dieng could bring back via trade. You can have both him and Noel for several seasons without needing to make that decision. And even without trading for Noel, it's pretty likely that Dieng is a trade chip at some point.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

If Dieng is pushed out it's going to be because someone is going to pay him more than he's worth to us. That could happen with or without Noel. Would you rather have Noel here if it happens or have someone offer 20 mil to Dieng and we watch him walk and have nobody to fill the hole? Or worse, match the 20 million because we have no other options. I don't see bringing in Noel signaling Dieng's exit considering they could both play together because of the position versatility. Towns/Noel/Dieng/Belly (scrap minutes) works together so if Dieng wants out it would be because his ego is too big to come off the bench, but still play 30 MPG's and that's on him if that happens.

[The Rage Monster [enjin:8010341]]

How much do we think Nerlens will get this time next year? Right now our top 4 players are Rubio, Towns, Wiggins, and LaVine (Dieng a little more distant 5th) where would Nerlens fall on the list of importance to winning a championship?

On it's own he's worth the 5th pick for what he'd provide but I see Nerlens being 5th on that list and commanding to large a salary too soon to make that trade.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

If he's turns into the defender that I think he'll become, there would be a case for Noel as third-most important on that team. Towns, hopefully Wiggins, and then Noel, but that's not a shot at LaVine because we'll need him too. It's just that defense is even more important in the playoffs than it is in the regular season. Bigs tend to affect that side of the ball a lot more than perimeter players.

Your defensive anchor -- in our case, that would be Noel's role even though we'd have Towns too -- is more important than your third option on offense.

You could compare it to the Clippers current situation. Is DeAndre Jordan more valuable than J.J. Redick? Even though it's close, I'd say yes. What he provides for them defensively is harder to replace than a third option offensively. No disrespect to Redick. Love his game. Love what he brings to their team.

[kekgeek]

I guess I don't quite see why this off season is the last to add talent. I also think there's enough talent at the PF position to be able to win with this year. It's not so bad we have to sign a 20 mill a year player. Lip, I agree with your above post, I would prefer to see how this core plays together before making a big splash. We are t winning the title next year gentleman. Also I think the talent at the 5 pick is worth not trading it, whether it be Dunn, Murrary, Bender or Hield.

I do agree that our pf position is good enough to win this year but next year we will have no cap space if we resign dieng and shabazz and do anything this year in free agency. This should be the last time the wolves have a to 7 pick as an asset. This is the last year we can add very important pieces workout giving up any of the core. This is a crucial offseason and I would love to add another big piece to it

[Lipoli390]

Geek -- I'm not sure this is the last season we'll have substantial cap space. First, I doubt we'll spend big money to re-sign Shabazz. Second, we can sign a FA next summer before re-signing Dieng and allow Gorgui to become a restricted FA. Even if we do re-sign Gorgui to a hefty contract extension before next summer, I think we might still have significant cap space with KG coming off the books and a possible injury retirement from Pek.

But I see you point. We know we have substantial cap space this summer when the new cap becomes effective so why not use it. That's a reasonable perspective. I just prefer to keep our powder dry for now and wait until we've seen how our current core performs under Thibs with the addition of a couple quality non-big money FA acquisitions.

[MikkeMan]

Future, yes I have watched Noel. I wouldn't speak on the matter as much as I have if I was clueless to Noel's game. You say he puts teammates in bad spots, though that ignores the fact that the team defense is better with him on the floor than when he sits, the fact that he's among the leaders in deflections, the fact that he's one of the league leaders in DRPM, and the fact that he's among the best in Adjusted Points Saved Per Game. Almost any statistic points towards the idea that he's a damn good defender. The eye test confirms that for me with the way he's able to cover a lot of ground when he rotates to help, when he's able to show hard on screens and recover with ease, and when he's switched out on perimeter players it's not a brutal mismatch like it is with most bigs.

I'm also not sure what you mean about his finishing ability. He shot 71.6% from 0-3 feet last season. In comparison, DeAndre Jordan is a career 72.1% from the same range. Now, Noel can certainly improve from 3-10 foot range, but the guy isn't going to make a living out there. He will live at the rim.

Cam, Dieng had last year DRPM 2.56 and Noel had it just 2.23. Noel had also last year negative on/off numbers in historically bad Philly team while Dieng had 3rd highest on/off numbers in Wolves team. His of/off numbers (+7.7) were almost as good than Ricky's numbers (+8.3).

I can still believe that even though Dieng had better DRPM, Noel would be still better defender. But since Wolves team lacks badly outside shooting, Noel would not be good fit for their starting five. Having two pretty bad outside shooters in back court/wing positions in Rubio and Wiggins, they absolutely need all others to be threats from outside. So I believe that Noel would hurt Wolves more in offensive end than he would help in defensive end.

Still I would consider trading for him but only if we could get Noel and 24th or 26th pick for 5th pick. I would not start Noel ahead of Dieng but he would be terrific backup for both center and power forward positions. He would be great also in end of game defensive units.

[kekgeek]

Geek -- I'm not sure this is the last season we'll have substantial cap space. First, I doubt we'll spend big money to re-sign Shabazz. Second, we can sign a FA next summer before re-signing Dieng and allow Gorgui to become a restricted FA. Even if we do re-sign Gorgui to a hefty contract extension before next summer, I think we might still have significant cap space with KG coming off the books and a possible injury retirement from Pek.

But I see you point. We know we have substantial cap space this summer when the new cap becomes effective so why not use it. That's a reasonable perspective. I just prefer to keep our powder dry for now and wait until we've seen how our current core performs under Thibs with the addition of a couple quality non-big money FA acquisitions.

I realize we can sign a guy before signing dieng but we are playing with fire there if Dieng gets offered a hefty contract by a team it would be dumb for him to wait for the wolves because the offer could come off the table

And I am not saying spend to spend. If there is an above average player to get I won't be afraid to go get him

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

When Noel and Okafor shared the court, the Sixers hemorrhaged 108.8 points per 100 possessions, which would have been the league's second-worst mark. During Noel's time without Okafor, though, Philadelphia only allowed 104.0 points per 100 possessions, which would have ranked 16th league-wide. The on-off splits with Noel and Stauskas (106.7 on; 104.7 off), Canaan (106.2 on; 105.1 off) and Smith (107.7 on; 105.0 off) tell a similar story: When he wasn't playing alongside significant liabilities, Noel helped the Sixers maintain a semblance of respectability on defense.

Noel's individual defensive metrics as a sophomore, meanwhile, remained among the NBA's best. Among players with at least 450 defensive chances on the year, he led the league in Deflections per 100 Chances (2.18), per Vantage Sports, and was in an eight-way tie for 27th in TO Forced per Chance (.033), joining two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard and two-time DPOY runner-up Draymond Green. He was tied for 20th in Blocks per 100 Chances (2.40), per Vantage, and was tied with Whiteside for seventh in defensive box plus/minus (3.4).

http://bballbreakdown.com/2016/06/04/sixers-trade-nerlens-noel-jahlil-okafor/

I'll take Noel over Dieng all day. The nice thing is that we wouldn't even have to make that decision until two years from now.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Tough call, but I'd probably do it. Noel is still young and you have to believe will only get better defensively. Offensively, I don't know if his ceiling is very high, but look at who he'd be playing next to.

It would be critical to add another wing shooter into the mix via free agency.