NBA Rumors: Latest Trade Buzz on Nerlens Noel, John Wall and More
The rumor mill is starting to crank up, even if only the same few players seem to be powering it. Below, we'll break down some of the juicier buzz around the NBA.
Nerlens Noel, C, Philadelphia 76ers
Perhaps you've heard by now that the Philadelphia 76ers have a glut of young centers and not enough playing time to accommodate all of them. After all, Nerlens Noel's anguished cries can be heard throughout the Association.
After playing in just eight minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night—with Joel Embiid playing 29 and Jahlil Okafor playing 24—Noel unleashed the full measure of his discontent upon reporters.
"I’m not an eight-minute player, so I don’t know what that’s about," he said, per Jessica Camerato of CSN Philly. "I don’t really care. I need to be on the court playing basketball. I think I’m too good to be playing eight minutes. Like, no, that’s crazy. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. They need to figure this s--t out."
Noel has been jockeying for a trade since the offseason, which is when most Philly fans assumed the team would move him or Okafor.
Embiid is the future of the Sixers and—barring injury—will be the team's center for years to come. And while the Sixers can justify having one of Noel or Okafor as a backup to Embiid, having both is causing a lot of drama for a team that has a trio of promising rookies in Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric.
The issue is that neither Okafor nor Noel is worth as much as the Sixers probably want them to be on the trade market. Okafor is a huge liability on defense and isn't the athletic rim protector that teams crave at the position. Noel, meanwhile, has caused concerns around the league with his injury history and immaturity, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical Podcast with Woj:
"The research teams have done on him is not good. They don’t get good reports back on their intel, how he’s carried himself there, of his habits. It’s not a great return. There are teams willing to do a deal for him and bring him in but they don’t want to give up much. And so at some point there, Philly has got to make a decision, ‘What’s the best we can get for him?’ I think at some point he probably moves, too.
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One of the teams that has long been rumored to have interest in Noel is the Boston Celtics. As A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE noted, "Let’s forget for a moment that he’s a Massachusetts native, which I have been told multiple times has 'absolutely zero' to do with Boston’s interest in him."
So you're saying there's some interest, eh? And Boston isn't worried about those maturity issues or Noel's recent comments about his playing time?
Well, regarding the latter, one assistant general manager told Blakely that Noel's remarks are understandable:
"I never like to hear that stuff, guys complaining about minutes publicly. But Philadelphia...they have too many bigs and they’re trying to make it work but you know and I know and Nerlens knows, somebody is going to get the short end of things when it comes to minutes. And Nerlens doesn’t want to be that guy. ...
Young guys don’t mind learning and not playing if the guy ahead of him is better or more experienced. They see it as paying their dues. But that’s not the case with Nerlens. He’s as good or better than all their bigs except maybe [Joel] Embiid. So he’s like, ‘why am I not playing?’ And whatever they’re telling him, it’s not what wants to hear for sure.
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Of course, between Okafor and Noel, keeping Noel would make more sense for Philadelphia. He's athletic enough to guard power forwards, and he and Embiid could switch with ease on that end of the floor, since Noel is also an excellent rim protector. On offense, Noel doesn't offer much at the power forward role, since his jumper is a work in progress, but he also doesn't need to play near the basket to be effective like Okafor does.
Rather, Embiid could play the traditional center role offensively, and Noel could float, looking to penetrate and secure easy buckets around the basket or finish lobs with athletic dunks.
Playing them on the floor consistently probably wouldn't utilize either Embiid's or Noel's talents fully, but it is easy to see how they could operate together. The same can't be said for the Embiid-Okafor or Okafor-Noel pairings, neither of which has shown promise.
So the Sixers find themselves in a pickle. They have to play Embiid, who looks like a franchise cornerstone and has energized the fanbase. But finding minutes for both Okafor and Noel is important as well, especially if they want to showcase them for teams that are interested in trading for either center.
Noel seems the most likely to move, given his public dissatisfaction. But in an ideal world, the Sixers would find a suitor for Okafor.
John Wall, PG, Washington Wizards
Larry Berger of USA Today reported that the Washington Wizards are "exploring moving" superstar point guard John Wall, which could have huge repercussions around the NBA.
It is easy to understand why the Wizards might be considering a shakeup. Washington (11-14) has struggled this year, though it has rebounded after a dreadful 2-8 start to the season. Still, the Wizards are hardly championship contenders.
Wall, to his credit, has once again been superb, averaging 24.2 points, 9.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. His play hasn't been the reason for Washington's struggles. He is, however, the team's most tradable asset, especially since he's under contract through the 2018-19 season.
And he has also felt underappreciated and undervalued for quite some time. Remember his comments about Reggie Jackson?
"People talk about me getting $80 million, now you got people getting $85 million that haven’t made the All-Star or anything like that. ... I guess they came in at the right time," Wall said in 2015, per Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. "That new CBA kicked in, and they’re good now. Reggie Jackson gets five years, $80 million. I’m getting the same as Reggie Jackson."
And earlier this year, Wall said, per The Vertical (h/t Buckner): "The type of player I am, and person I am, character I have, I should be seen on commercials, in the nation’s eyes and the people’s eyes. And I haven’t."
Don't worry, there's more, this time from Thursday, per Buckner:
"We don’t play on TV a lot so a lot of people don’t get to see us play. If you don’t have NBA League Pass and stuff like that, you don’t see the things that I’m doing in the game or what we’re doing trying to win. So if you ain’t checking on Twitter and stuff like that, you don’t know. All these other teams get a lot of TV games, that’s why they get these accolades from the media and fan votes. Until we get an opportunity to be on TV more, it would be tough for people to realize and see what I do.
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So Wall isn't thrilled about his compensation or exposure. That may mean he's just fed up with Washington and may not be interested in signing an extension with the team in the future—which may also mean that trading the superstar is ultimately the best outcome for all parties involved.
Nikola Mirotic, PF, Chicago Bulls
Nikola Mirotic's days with the Chicago Bulls may be numbered, though getting much value for him via trade seems unlikely, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
"As for Mirotic, his contract is up after this season and his trade value is down if the Bulls decide to shop him between now and the February deadline. That's according to an Eastern Conference executive who cited Mirotic's inconsistent play and expiring deal, which doesn't hold as much value in the age of the dramatically rising salary cap.
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Mirotic is averaging just 8.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game this season on a Bulls team that also has Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio available at power forward.
In other words, Mirotic is expendable. It just doesn't seem as though teams around the NBA are all that interested in buying. And that's an issue for a Chicago team that probably needs some new blood on the roster after losing six of its last eight games.
The Bulls have some excellent pieces but lack quality depth, athleticism and perimeter shooting. Mirotic was expected to help with the latter issue, as he shot 39 percent from beyond the arc last year. This season? He's shooting an awful 28.4 percent from three. It's no wonder he's both expendable to the Bulls and unappealing on the market.
At his best, he's a quality stretch 4 in a complementary role. But Mirotic has been far from his best this year.
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