https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/noelne01.html

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/nerlens-noel-13319/

2020 Projected Veterans Minimum Exception Salary - $2,174,318

A one year deal would have a cap charge of $2,174,318 but only a cash hit of $1,620,564. The NBA would pay $553,754 of Noel's salary

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-nba-player-projections/nerlens-noel/

Wins above replacement projection
Category: ROTATION PLAYER
5-yr market value: $45.9m
Projected RAPTOR Plus/Minus : 0.8 / WAR: 2.2 / 2020 Market Value: 9.6 million / Total Rating: 147th out of 450 total players

https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/2020/06/23/making-the-case-for-sixers-to-bring-back-nerlens-noel-in-free-agency/

It feels like forever ago that Nerlens Noel turned down a four-year, $70 million contract offer from the Dallas Mavericks. Of all the regrets in recent NBA history, that has to rank among the biggest.

The issue isn't just with Noel, though he played a part in his disastrous Dallas tenure, but rather basketball's view toward interior bigs. Those players are having increasing difficulty getting paid on the open market, and that could prove especially true this summer when money is short and the list of available bigs is long (Gasol, Ibaka, Montrezl Harrell, Christian Wood, Tristan Thompson, Hassan Whiteside, etc.).

Between the limited funds and the frontcourt glut, signs are pointing to a Noel sighting in the bargain bin—even while he cements himself as a transcendent defender at age 26. That probably sounds like hyperbolic praise, but he's just the fifth player in NBA history to post a 15-plus rebound percentage, a 5-plus block percentage and a 2-plus steal percentage across 5,000 minutes. When one looks at Noel’s raw stats, he is averaging 1.5 blocks in 18.4 minutes per game in Oklahoma City.

Noel averaged 7.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game for the Thunder in 2019-20. Noel shoots 68.9 percent from the field because he is always within a few feet of the hoop. In just 18.4 minutes per game, Noel averaged 1.5 blocks and one steal, numbers that put him in line with some of the better defenders in the NBA, especially when you extrapolate them over 36 minutes. Noel’s Per-36 numbers would make him a borderline All-Star, as he gets 15.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, two steals and 2.9 blocks per 36 minutes. Noel is never going to play 36 minutes, as his offensive limitations and propensity for getting into foul trouble will prevent him from being on the floor that long.

Noel is the perfect rim roller.... he will likely be looking for a pay raise this summer after only making $2 million in 2019-20, but it shouldn’t be a significant bump.

The sixth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Nerlens Noel has career numbers of 8.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.5 blocks. If the Thunder make him the full-time starter and increase his usage rate a little bit, he could easily average 10 points and 10 boards..... His touch around the basket is improving and he has always been good at tip-ins and crashing the offensive boards.

While he doesn't offer much more than size and athleticism at the offensive end, he's at least used that combo to land among the 91st percentile of pick-and-roll screeners.

"He's an amazing big man because he's a great defender, great shot blocker," Oklahoma City Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari told The Athletic's Erik Horne. "He's not a guy who [needs] the ball in his hands. He sets screens, rolls to the basket, very unselfish."

Noel has the agility to defend perimeter players and the length to protect the paint. That's a powerful pairing for contemporary centers. But since his offense isn't as modern-friendly, his cost should fall well beneath his actual worth..

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholascrain/2019/05/23/oklahoma-city-thunder-2018-19-season-evaluation-nerlens-noel/#4bc13c342685

May 23, 2019,09:34pm EDT
Oklahoma City Thunder 2018-19 Season Evaluation: Nerlens Noel
Nick Crain

... When that next summer came around, the Oklahoma City Thunder would be the next team to give Noel a fresh start. Nerlens Noel signed a two-year, $3.7 million minimum deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, with a player option in the second year giving him an early opt-out to once again test the free agent market the following summer if he chose.

Coming into the season, Noel knew he would be coming off the bench behind Steven Adams, and was completely fine with that. He ended up playing a career-low 13.7 minutes per game with the Thunder.

Although he didn’t play many minutes, Nerlens Noel was extremely efficient. He produced 4.9 points on 3.6 shot attempts to go along with 4.2 rebounds per game.

Just to show how efficient Nerlens Noel was with his minutes, per 100 possessions he had the highest offensive rating as well as defensive rating on the entire team. Oklahoma City didn’t expect him to be a force on the offensive end but knew he had the potential to be a spark off of the bench and an anchor on defense. Noel was not a letdown in either of those categories.

Noel was 21st in the entire NBA with 1.2 blocks per game, even in limited minutes. If you look deeper into his ability to block shots, he was third in the league in blocks per 48 minutes with 4.37. He also had active hands on the defense, coming up with 0.9 steals per game.

Nerlens Noel made the first playoff appearance of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2018-19 season. In his playoff series debut, he essentially brought the exact same production he had in the regular season. In 12.0 minutes per game, he averaged 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds.

According to data Forbes' Brett Knight compiled for his lists of the NBA's most overpaid and underpaid players, Nerlens Noel was extremely underpaid last season. Knight adapted a methodology created by Southern Utah University economist David Berri, estimating the value of a win and multiplying that figure by an estimate of how many wins a player produced to determine what that player's salary should be. To determine the number of wins a player generated, Knight averaged each player's figures for Wins Produced, Win Shares and an estimate based on Value Over Replacement Player. According to this data, Nerlens Noel's production in the regular season was worth $14,933,520, which is $13,176,091 more than the $1,757,429 he made.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholascrain/2020/01/29/chris-paul-has-played-a-huge-part-in-nerlens-noels-breakout-season-for-the-oklahoma-city-thunder/#636c84a14604

Chris Paul Has Played A Huge Part In Nerlens Noel’s Breakout Season For The Oklahoma City Thunder
Nick Crain

After playing with Russell Westbrook for a season, many were curious how a guy like Noel would perform with a player like Chris Paul. So far, it’s been great and their chemistry has been excellent from the beginning. Paul is known for making it easy on big men to have productive seasons, including guys like Tyson Chandler, David West, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Clint Capela

Just last week, when asked how you develop on-court chemistry with a big man you’ve never played with before, like Nerlens, Chris Paul had a great answer. “There was a conversation early in the season with Nerlens, our lockers are right next to each other. I told him I have a unique gift to get big guys the ball. I told him screen for me and I’ll get it to you. It’s been effortless. Nerlens is a guy that he’s so selfless, he does whatever the team needs him to do night in and night out. It’s nice to reward him.”

It’s been clear that Paul and Noel have had chemistry this season. Their pick-and-roll game has been efficient and they feed off of each other on the defensive end. Paul’s overall leadership on and off the floor has helped young guys, like Noel, have breakout seasons.

How good has Nerlens Noel been with Chris Paul at the helm this season?

In 39 games played this season, Noel has started in six games during the absence of Steven Adams. While the 8.2 points per game he is producing is by no means a career-high, the way he is doing it is extremely efficient, producing those points on only 4.8 shots per contest. Noel is also giving the Thunder 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game, doing a bit of everything.

Speaking of efficiency, Noel is shooting 80.5 percent from the free throw line as well as 67.7 percent from the field. Both of these are career-high marks for him and his field goal percentage is good for 12th in the entire NBA. Another career-high for Noel is his 71.8 true shooting percentage, which is the highest on the team and 11th in the league.

All of this production out of Nerlens is great, but what is even more impressive is that he does all of this in just 18.9 minutes per game. When it comes to usage percentage on the Thunder, he is 13th, showing just how efficient he is.

When looking at Noel’s per 36 numbers, he starts to really stand out among not only Thunder players, but all players in the NBA. His 15.5 points per 36 minutes are fifth on the Thunder, one spot over Steven Adams. On top of this, Noel is 12th on the team in field goal attempts per 36 minutes, meaning he makes every shot count. His rebounds are second on the team to only Adams with 10.1 per 36 minutes.

Defensively, where Noel thrives, he blows everyone on the team out of the water. Per 36 minutes, he produces 3.0 blocks (1st on team, 11th in NBA) and 1.9 steals (1st on team, 17th in NBA). Overall, his .244 win share per 36 minutes is best on the team by far and 11th in the NBA.

Overall, when you look at efficiency and metrics per 36 minutes, Nerlens Noel looks better than Steven Adams on paper. That’s extremely impressive considering he is making 7.85 percent of the money Adams is making in the 2019-20 season.

Noel has been an exceptional spark off the bench for Oklahoma City. In fact, he’s been one of the best centers off the bench in entire league this season. His 23.0 player efficiency rating (PER) is 25th in the entire NBA. How impressive is that? Well, his PER is higher than guys like Russell Westbrook, Donovan Mitchell, Andre Drummond, Bam Adebayo, Bradley Beal, and obviously many others.

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College Profile/Contrast Level Of Career Progression

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/nerlens-noel/

NBA Comparison: Larry Sanders/Dikembe Mutombo

Strengths: One of the best pure shot blockers to come along in a number of years … He’s a more explosive leaper and has better on ball shot blocking ability than last year’s UK freshman intimidator Anthony Davis. While Davis had a little better lateral speed and ability to get to shots as a weakside defender, Noel’s ability to deny his man any daylight to the rim and be a rim protector makes him even more dominant, and a potential defensive enforcer for the NBA … An elite level athlete with great quickness and explosive leaping ability … Great length, reported 7’4 wingspan … Showed surprising ability to get steals using his quick hands (2.1 per game), though some of those reach ins will draw fouls and not be as sucessful in the NBA … Must get stronger but has the potential to play both post positions: power forward and center … A good kid, with a strong work ethic … Competes. Plays with great energy and effort … His great length, explosiveness and natural timing which makes him such a dominant shot blocker also makes him a great rebounder and ally oop/put back dunker … Strong rebounder. Shows a willingness to bang inside and fight for rebounds. 9.5 rpg … Good hands to snatch rebounds and make one handed put backs in spectacular fashion … As raw as he is, he seems to have a solid feel for the game and understanding of how to play to his strengths … Showed development in his freshman season, learning to get a wide base, call for the ball, keep it away from guards and make plays, though unpolished, towards the basket … Has developed a little baby hook shot with either hand that has shown some success at times … Shows the ability to face up and get by slower defenders using the dribble … Surprisingly good passer for a bigman. His near 1-1 a/to ratio shows that he passes well and also doesn’t turn the ball over a great deal … His impact on UK has been most apparent after his injury, with the team losing their first game w/out him by 30 to Tennessee … While he lacks much muscle tone, he does show very good aggressiveness attacking the basket and is "wiry strong" … While his ACL injury takes some of the luster off of him as a prospect due to the unknowns surrounding him returning to 100%, the fact that he’s so young and today’s technology with athletes such as Adrian Peterson having made such amazing recoveries after surgery helps his cause …

Weaknesses: Offensively, Noel’s game is rudimentary. He has shown some development but the general perception is that he will never be a strong offensive player, instead he impacts games with his defense, rebounding and athleticism … Won’t be able to "out-athleticize" opponents for baskets at the next level the way he has in college … Scores mainly on put backs and dunks when he gets a clear path to the basket, or when teammates are able to create for him. That being said, his great foot speed allows him to get by inferior opponents off the dribble at times … Post game is very weak, as a high school player he focused too much on trying to face the basket and use ball handling instead of embracing the idea of being a post player all the time. His lack of post moves/instincts are a result … Lacks touch even around the rim as he’s had some painful misses from point blank range, missing by 2 feet from 4 feet away, etc. … Shows quick feet and explosiveness to get by slower defenders but struggles to make any real post moves. His foot work needs a good deal of improvement … His shooting ability is a major weakness as his lack of a crisp form is apparent when he shoots from the FT line. Lacks a clean, smooth motion, he slings the ball, pushing it instead of allowing his wrists to have a natural release … Legs are alarmingly thin and there could be some concern that the knee injury came as a result of his lack of leg strength … Narrow shoulders will challenge his ability to bulk up considerably. Though there are plenty of NBA bigmen that have had success in the 230 range (which is likely where he will wind up) … His 53% ft shooting illustrates his lack of shooting fundamentals … Unusual athlete, while on one hand he’s an elite level run jump guy with tremendous reflexes and quickness, he plays extremely upright and is stiff and lacking fluidity in some regards …

Notes: Was a difference maker as a shot blocker / intimidator helping his Boston based BABC AAU team win the Nike Peach Jam in the summer going into his senior year, and it was where insiders began discussing Noel as a potential #1 overall pick … Suffered a season ending ACL injury against Florida on 2/12/2013 … His freshman season averages ended up being 31.9 mpg, 10.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 4.4 bpg, 59% fg, 53% ft, 2.1 spg.

Aran Smith 2/18/13

Strengths: An elite-level shot blocker with an extremely high ceiling … Measured 6’11 in shoes with a 7’4" wingspan, giving him very good length for the center position in the NBA … Explosive athlete with a very quick reaction time … Gets up well on both his first and second jumps, giving him an advantage on the offensive glass … An absolutely intimidating presence in the paint … Blocks an unreal amount of shots due to his length, athleticism, reflexes and timing … Agility allows him to rotate quickly to help teammates defensively … Remarkably fluid runner … Will outrun other bigs down the floor, to set himself up for a number of easy baskets per game … Strong finisher around the rim … Will be an easy alley-oop target at the next level … Uses his physical tools to get a lot of out-of-area rebounds … Defends well on the perimeter … Not beaten easily, even when he switches onto smaller players … Collects a lot of steals for a big man … Isn’t afraid to run the fast break with the ball in his hands … Very active, plays with a good motor … Unselfish … Has the potential to become a good passer for his position … Confident player that has the stuff to be a dominant defender at Kentucky …

Weaknesses: Needs to add strength to handle the center position in the NBA … Doesn’t get pushed around often at this level and can compensate with his length/athleticism when he does, but that will be a problem in the future if he doesn’t add a significant amount of weight … Prone to biting on pump-fakes, but is often so quick to recover that it doesn’t matter … Can be over-aggressive at times defensively, and get himself in foul trouble … Lacks much of a scoring game. Appears lost offesnively and too often looks to face the basket instead of utilizing his size and athleticism in the post … Needs to polish his post game … Would serve himself well by adding a mid-range jumper and a consistent go-to move in the post to his currently limited offensive repertoire …

Overall: Noel is a top-level defensive player, and a likely one-and-done prospect … He should be able to add the all-around polish he needs to be a very high draft pick at Kentucky next year, and could be considered for the top-overall pick in the 2013 draft …

Tyler Ingle 4/17/12

2012 Nike Hoop Summit Measurements: Hgt w/ shoes: 6’11, Hgt w/o shoes: 6’10, Wt: 216, W-Span: 7-4, Reach*: 9’1.5

Noel is the most instinctive shot blocker in the country. He uses his incredible length (7’3 wingspan), bounce, and timing to either block or alter shots at an alarming rate. He is a game changer on the defensive end of the floor. His offensive game has improved considerably, but it still has a ways to go to be on the same level as his defense. He runs the floor very well for a big and gets a number of buckets by simply beating the defense down the floor. His lack of strength was exposed somewhat at last week’s NBA Top 100 Camp, but by all accounts he was able to adjust by week’s end. Noel’s upside is off the charts. If he can develop his offensive game and eat the weight room, he could be a potential #1 pick based on his presence defensively.

Ian Powers 6/25/11

he doesn't move the needle for me