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Nerlens Noel is finally getting a major NBA payday.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Noel has agreed to a three-year, $32 million deal to remain with the New York Knicks.
Free agent C Nerlens Noel is returning to the New York Knicks on a three-year, $32M contract, his agent @GeorgeLangberg tells ESPN. Tom Thibodeau keeps his rim protector.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 2, 2021
How big of a deal is this for Noel?
According to Spotrac, Noel’s career NBA earnings is $37,335,294, so to make $32 million over the next three years is by far the biggest deals he has and may ever get.
In his first season with the Knicks this past season, the 27-year-old Noel averaged 5.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and a career-high 2.2 blocks per game. He entered the league as the No. 6 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft via the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s also played for the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder.
A big part of what drew Noel to New York was the addition of Kenny Payne, who coached the former Wildcat in Lexington during the 2012-13 college hoops season. In fact, Noel didn’t sign with the Knicks until Nov. 25th of 2020. He still went on to have a key role for a Knicks team that was arguably the biggest surprise of the 2020-21 season, as they won 41 games and made the NBA Playoffs for the first time ironically since the 2012-13 season.
Here is a look at some of Noel’s best moments from last season.
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