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    Free agency's biggest loser is still living American dream

    Even without a max contract, Nerlens Noel is living American dream
    Jul 27, 2018
    Nerlens Noel has settled for a two-year deal with OKC worth $3.7 million.
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    CHICAGO - Nerlens Noel was sure he was going to hit the biggest jackpot he deserved, the kind that would require a truck with 18 wheels to carry the loot.

    That's why he turned down the Mavericks' four-year $70 million offer last July 1, 2017, setting his sights on 2018 when he becomes an unrestricted free agent and can sign a max deal of up to $146 million for five years with any of the league's 30 teams.

    Noel decided to stay in Dallas but signed only the one-year qualifying offer worth $4.1 million. He made a huge bet, a very risky one that only a drunk financial adviser would endorse.

    But there were plenty of reasons to believe Noel will win the boldest gamble of his then 23-year old life. He was, after all, a 6-foot-11, 228-pound freak of nature. He is long as an ostrich, can jump like Jordan, and he runs with a bolt of Usain's lighting on his feet.

    Sadly, Noel's 2017-18 audition season flopped spectacularly. Expected to showcase his skills like a high-performance Ferrari, he instead rolled like a Mazda, which bogged down after just 30 games where he averaged 4.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per outing while logging 15.7 unhappy minutes off the bench.

    With his underwhelming body work, the big money offers never came. So this past July 6, Noel inked a humbling two-year deal with the OKC Thunder worth $3.7 million, according to basketballreference.com.

    This means that his check for every regular season game is $23,341, a significant drop from last season's take of $50,000 a game. This also means that Andray Blatche, who was a distant 49th pick in the 2005 NBA draft, makes more money than Noel in China at $2.5 million a year.

    Just seven years ago, Noel was the No. 1 high school prospect in all of America, recruited heavily by the blue blood collegiate programs before choosing the University of Kentucky and eventually becoming the sixth overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft.

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    Though fast as Uber, Noel hasn't grown as quickly as the transportation tech company which is now valued at $66 billion after opening business in 2009, per CNBC.

    So why can't he muster enough twinkles to make himself an All-Star?

    INJURIES, which include an ACL tear on his left knee, an inflamed plica, tendinitis, and a torn left thumb ligament, have hindered his development. A five-game suspension without pay for violating the league's anti-drug policy certainly did not help.

    Rumors about his work ethic and being a malcontent follow him like the scent of Chanel. In a December 2016 piece for clutchpoints.com, Arlos Sara wrote, "Noel, despite being on the trading block for months, has managed to scare away teams due to his attitude."

    Once thought to be a giant piece of a championship franchise, Noel heads to Oklahoma as a reclamation project. It should be a good fit given how the Thunder like to run, play the pick-and-roll heavily, and constantly switch on defense, tasks Nerlens was born to do.

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    "I definitely want to bring my dog out. I want to have it on a nightly basis playing with that energy and that joy," Noel told The Oklahoman last week, grateful for another chance and eager to unleash - finally - his inner beast.

    Even without the $100 million plus contract he yearned, Noel is still a financial success story.

    So far, he has banked $18.3 million in salaries. A year from now, assuming he plays well and stays healthy, he could opt-out and renegotiate a bigger deal. He would only be 25 then, the best years of his athletic life still ahead.

    In a March 10, 2012 feature for the New York Times. Pete Thamel chronicled Noel's modest beginnings. His now separated parents immigrated from Haiti to Everett, Massachusetts in 1990. His dad, Yonel, drove a cab in Boston while his mom, Dorcina, toiled a cleaning job at a hospital before back problems prevented her from working.

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    Thanks to the path his parents provided for him, Noel is now living large.

    His Philly house, which was toured by TV station CBS Philadelphia in 2015, has a rock-climbing wall, a giant theater and a basketball court. He has a few nice cars and a shoe collection which include limited edition sneakers, designer Ugg boots, and a $1,200 Giuseppe's.

    Although his last season in Dallas was a nightmare, Nerlens Noel, is still living the American dream.

    Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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    Nerlens Noel has settled for a two-year deal with OKC worth $3.7 million.
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