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Dallas Mavericks rumors: Interest in signing Joakim Noah

ByTyler Watts|
Dallas Mavericks Joakim Noah Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)
Dallas Mavericks Joakim Noah Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Dallas Mavericks lost starting center Dwight Powell for the season on Jan. 21. They are rumored to be interested in adding Joakim Noah to fill in.

Dallas Mavericks center Dwight Powell fell to the court with a non-contact injury in the first quarter of Tuesday’s game. He needed to be helped from the floor and could not put any weight on his right leg. It was confirmed to be ruptured Achilles on Wednesday.

Powell is out for the rest of the season. The Mavericks need to find the next man up. They are light on frontcourt options. Kristaps Porzingis cannot handle more minutes. That means Maxi Kleber and Boban Marjanovic will be forced to play the five until the front office makes a move. Coach Carlisle will likely elect to play a lot of small ball in the interim.

The rumor mill produced another one on Jan. 22. Here is a look at the latest.

Mavs looking at Jo

Tim MacMahon reported the Mavericks’ interest in Joakim Noah on Wednesday evening. Here is his tweet.

Dallas has a full roster, so they would first need to clear a spot. The addition of Noah would be a low-cost alternative.

The Mavs are right to be concerned, though. He is 34 years old and has not played more than 50 games since 2015. The injury history is lengthy. Noah did play well for the Grizzlies last season. He averaged 7.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 16.5 minutes per game.

The playing time could be the other issue here. Powell was averaging 26.5 per game. Noah hasn’t played over 23 a night since 2015. The seven-footer is also a free agent that has yet to play a game this season. He could be a piece of the puzzle, but the Mavericks are going to need more too.

Stay tuned to see how the Dallas Mavericks go about replacing Dwight Powell. They play on Thursday night against the Blazers, so fans will get their first glimpse there.

Wishing the best for Powell in his recovery. He is an important piece of the organization. Hopefully, he makes it back to full strength by the beginning of next season.

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