Should the Philadelphia 76ers Discipline Nerlens Noel?

Following recent critical comments about the team’s handling of big men, should the Philadelphia 76ers discipline Nerlens Noel?

Good players deserve good minutes in the NBA, that is a given. Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel, when considering his skill set alone, is deserving of starter-like minutes, which would be something far above 25 minutes per game, likely an amount closing in on 30.

Noel has proven to be a solid rim protecter and defender over his first few seasons in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers. His defensive box plus/minus has been 3.9 over the course of his career so far, where 2.0 would indicate a level of average NBA play on the defensive end. He has shown the ability to switch with intelligence, use length to his advantage, and limit teams from getting to the rim. He’s also done a decent job of being there on the offensive end as well, averaging double-digit points in his career.

That said, it would appear that Noel is more than qualified for a starting position in the NBA, and if he is coming off of the bench, at least getting good sixth-man minutes. According to the Philadelphia 76ers this season, though, that’s not quite the case.

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Noel began this year recovering from a surgery on his knee, and as a result missed the first 23 games of the season. He appeared in game 24, a win over the Detroit Pistons, getting 8 points, 0 rebounds, and 1 steal in 10 minutes of play. He left that game early with injury, which was the reason for his limited minutes in that game.

He would miss the next game due to soreness, and then appeared in the loss to the Los Angles Lakers, but only played 8 minutes (scoring just 2 points, but bringing in 5 rebounds).

Following that game, Noel aired his grievances with the team and how they have handled having three lottery-pick big men from the past several NBA Drafts on the same roster.

Noel, talking to reporters after the game, had this to say:

"“I don’t really care who I’m playing with. I’m not an eight-minute player so I don’t know what that’s about. I don’t really care. I need to be on the court playing basketball. I think I’m too good to be playing eight minutes. Like, no, that’s crazy. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. They need to figure this s— out.”"

Following that game and those comments, Brett Brown and Noel reportedly had a mature, man-to-man conversation. The result of that conversation, as seen in the following game, was Noel being sat out and playing zero total minutes.

The question must be asked — should the team discipline Noel for his comments, or should they let them slide? One might say that the team has already begun their discipline with how they handled him in the very next game.

Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Noel will only be used for the foreseeable future if Joel Embiid or Jahlil Okafor are in foul trouble, after Noel received zero minutes in the win against the Brooklyn Nets. According to the team, that has nothing to do with Noel’s comments, but the timing is interesting.

What was notable about comments regarding Noel was that Brett Brown mentioned he felt worse for Richaun Holmes, the center who is undoubtedly looked at as the fourth center in line to get playing minutes, behind Noel. He said that Holmes being with the team since day one this season was important, and that Noel has not been a part of the team.

The thing about Noel’s comments is that he isn’t wrong. He’s not an eight-minute player. And in a contract year, he really does need to be out there playing basketball to prove himself to whatever teams are going to be considering offering him contracts and offer sheets in the offseason. At the same time, though, there’s a difference between being right, and being justified in making comments.

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Noel has already, in many ways, exiled himself from the team and the culture of the 76ers. These comments only furthered that distance between himself and the organization, something he should have been looking to close the gap on if he wanted a chance at more minutes.

Should the team offer Noel more minutes? If they want the best defensive set possible, a combination of him and Embiid sounds enticing. That said, awarding minutes to a player who went on a pout after his first two games back from injury (with a team that is known for being careful with their minutes on injured players) is a bad look for the team.

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Perhaps punished isn’t the best word, but the Sixers certainly shouldn’t reward Noel at the moment. He has shown he has no desire to be in Philadelphia, and as a result, it’s likely he’s on his way out at some point.