Dallas Basketball

Pistons' Nerlens Noel Get Contract Buyout; Reunion Signing with Mavs Next?

The Detroit Pistons and Nerlens Noel agreed to a contract buyout on Monday, opening the door for the 28-year-old to sign with a playoff contender before the March 1 deadline. The Dallas Mavericks could use the services of Noel, who played in Big D from 2017-2018.

Dalton Trigg

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The Dallas Mavericks have already been active on the NBA buyout market, as they signed 33-year-old wing Justin Holiday last week to help with the team's perimeter defense. Could a move be coming to help Dallas' interior defense next?

On Monday, the Detroit Pistons and Nerlens Noel agreed to a contract buyout, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. This enables the 28-year-old big man to sign with a new team and still be postseason eligible ahead of he March 1 deadline. To be eligible for the playoffs, players must be let go before that cutoff date.

Noel played 22 games for the Mavs during the 2016-17 season and 30 games during the 2017-18 season before signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder the following summer. His time in Dallas wasn't perfect by any means, but things are much different now, as the Mavs have new management in the front office with GM Nico Harrison, new coaching led by Jason Kidd and new star-power with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Through 464 career games, Noel has averaged 7.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals in 22.1 minutes per game. He shoots a respectable 54.7 percent from the field for his career as well.

For a Mavs team that has suffered down low this season, the addition of Noel could potentially make more of a difference than if he signed elsewhere. Dallas has a clear need for what Noel is capable of bringing to the table in limited minutes.

With Maxi Kleber set to make his return from missing 30 games due to a hamstring tear, the Mavs' rim protection and overall defense could be given an even bigger boost if that return is combined with signing Noel on the buyout market.

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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

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