The only think I can think of is they don't want to risk him getting injured before they can trade him. Keeping him on the bench in warm ups sends the message he COULD play, but we'd rather not chance it. BNM
Teams wheel and deal all year long. It wont affect anything. They can easily work out all the details verbally beforehand and just put it to ink when its okay to do so. 2 weeks isn't like the off season.
I don't think the Blazers have the cap space to absorb Noel's contract, though. If we're sending (ultimately) two players out for Noel, then we could send one (if it matches Noel's contract) and the other after the 15th (December or January, depending on who). Philly has the cap space to take a player for free (or a conditional 2nd round pick).
If they're not going to play Noel anyway, it might be in their best interest to wait. Crabbe, will instantly be their best outside shooter, which will help open up the court for Embiid and Okafor. They might actually win a couple more games and decrease their odds of getting the No. 1 pick. They aren't making the playoffs, so they have absolutely zero incentive to make a trade sooner rather than later. The longer they wait, the more options become available. Maybe they're hoping for a bidding war for Noel, or at least multiple offers so they have a couple different options to consider. BNM
Or they really hate having a very unhappy Noel around the other players, talking to the press, tweetering, etc.
Probably what the convo between brown and Noel was about yesterday. Btw, Noel hasn't blamed the coach, he's actually defended him for being in a tough spot. His frustrations have all been aimed at the front office.
I think he's a GIANT step up from Aminu (at PF) or Leonard. Play him 36 minutes and he gets you 17/8 and .390 3pt shooting. DRtg under 104 (102 this season). The guy is 25, and he's been a champion in Europe, MVP, best player on the best team there, etc. He needs out of the clusterf*ck that's the Chicago Bulls organization.
Colangelo thinks benching him is punishment for criticizing the front office. No, the real punishment is making him wear a 76ers uniform any longer than absolutely necessary. I can't even remember the last tie a player NEEDED to be traded this badly. They don't want him. He doesn't want to be there. I totally cracks me up that Brett Brown just said this about not playing Noel tonight: Brett Brown indicated Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor are primary bigs tonight. Doesn’t want to “force feed” 3 centers. Brett Brown: ‘I don’t feel the balance of the team with 3 big men (playing). The ripple effects are real.’ Which is pretty much the same thing Noel said about having three starting quality centers on the same roster back in October that put him in Bryan Colengelo's dog house in the first place. Now, the coach is refuses to play Noel for the same reason Noel wants to be traded. Brown just validated Noel's previous comments. Something has to give. No way in hell does Nerlens Noel make it past the trade deadline in a PHI uniform. BNM
I actually really like Mirotic. Stotts would love him, and I agree he's an improvement over Meyers and Aminu (at least offensively.) what would Chicago want?
Ed Davis might be enough. He'd fit right in. Great backup C for Lopez and great backup PF for Taj. Similar salary.
Yep, Noel and Brown are actually on the same page - having 3 starting quality centers on the same roster makes no basketball sense, especially in today's NBA. BNM
