Serious injury history. Very little spare money around the league, now and for the foreseeable. A type of game which will work with the right teammates but that also has become less and less and valuable over the last three years. As the article implies, it’s hardly surprising that nobody’s beat down Noel’s door with a max offer.
Agents be agenting.
Dallas should wait him out. If some fucker offers a big contract then they’ve a decision to make, but as Haley points out the Bulls are the only team left who can make an asshole offer and they already have Robin Lopez, have just paid Cristiano Felicio, have just drafted Markkanen, and still have a decision to make on Mirotic. Would you really rather risk giving Noel the max if you’re the Bulls than sign Mirotic and, say, Ian Clark to movable contracts? Would you rather lock down Noel for years and give him a quarter of your cap in a year when you’ve just seen the cap go down or do you just see what you’ve got this year after that odd trade you made with Minny, add projects on funky deals, and keep your cap clean for next year in a league full of filthy cap sheets? Phoenix are the only other team who could make even a slightly annoying offer for the Mavs and they still have Tyson Chandler for two more years.
With his injury history Noel’s almost certainly going to want the security of years on his contract and that gives the Mavs serious leverage. And it’s not like it’s impossible to find dudes who offer a good deal of Noel’s production in his role at a fraction of his max. There’s no way in hell that Dallas should ever be held to ransom by Noel, and his agent and the league know that. The Mavs are playing this right.