Are the Mavericks Having Second Thoughts on Nerlens Noel?

After being in contract talks for nearly a month now, are the Dallas Mavericks starting to reconsider things with Nerlens Noel? Or is all of this waiting overblown by the fan base?

Nerlens Noel is playing hard to get right now and the Dallas Mavericks look like they are getting tired of the pursuit. If Noel doesn’t start to give in a little bit to the Mavs pursuit, he may end up with no date to the prom.

The lack of any ground being gained between the two parties is confusing to say the least, and conspiracy theories pop up daily on why these things are happening. One theory I have yet to see, however, is that maybe Dallas just isn’t that in to Noel. Maybe they like him, they just don’t like-like him.

Alright, that is enough middle/high school metaphor for one day, but the fact remains that Dallas really could be setting sail on the idea of having Nerlens Noel long term. At some point, the Mavs front office and the fan base had convinced themselves that Noel was going to be coming in on a max contract. Whether that idea was well-liked or not is another story, but the expectation was there.

At some point between then and about two weeks ago, Dallas started to understand that no team was willing to offer Noel the money that he wanted. Not yet, at least. When that was learned, the Mavs changed their strategy and decided to low ball one of the most important pieces for the future of the Dallas Mavericks. Noel did not take that lightly.

More from The Smoking Cuban

To me, it does not make sense that Dallas would put a player of Noel’s magnitude in a situation like that. He has a chance to change the way the Mavericks work and is one of the most athletic centers in the game, but the negotiation between the two parties has gone nowhere. I have no doubt that if he was not a restricted free agent, he would have a max offer sheet by now.

This could be a real sign of Dallas choosing to go another direction. I have learned over the years that Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson usually let the general public know about their plans once they have already been agreed on and not a second sooner. There is a real chance that this is exactly what is happening in Dallas right now. Maybe they are just waiting for another plan to pan out?

Although the free agent market has all but dried up, there are still trade options around the league. A sign-and-trade for Noel is a definite possibility as there are more than enough teams that would be interested in his services. If more teams had max cap space to work with, he would already have offers but too many teams are out of money.

Dallas is notorious for letting players go that it seems like there is no better option for. Sometimes it works out for us (see Chandler Parsons), while other times it bites us in the butt (see Tyson Chandler). Either way, it has never stopped the Mavericks front office from taking a gamble.

So who’s to say the Mavs haven’t made up their mind that Noel is insatiable and there are better options out there? Although it sounds crazy after all the hype from last year, there is no telling what might actually be happening. Some targets for sign-and-trades could be LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Drummond, or DeAndre Jordan to name a few. I would rather have Nerlens but anything is possible.

Next: Phoenix Could Still be a Dark Horse for Nerlens Noel

The fact of the matter is that this is all speculation, but until we have more news on the state of contract talks between the Mavs and Noel, there’s nothing we can do but speculate. Maybe Dallas really is just ready to move on from the young center.