Qualifying offer magic
Now you might find this curious from the team who traded for the rights to Noel not to offer more for his services. But the Dallas Mavericks, when they obtained Noel, also obtained the rights to extending a qualifying offer to him.
A qualifying offer is a Collective Bargaining Agreement formula which affords both player and team some level of protection. It helps the player by ensuring they are picked up at a one-year contract rate. It protects the team by providing a matching clause. In short, the $4.1 million qualifying offer ensured the Mavericks the right to match any other bids for Noel.
Reality sets in
In the end, Noel signed for far less than his asking price
BREAKING: Nerlens Noel signs a one year $4.1 million deal pic.twitter.com/DyFXOgCuGR
— MFFL (@Mavs_FFL) August 26, 2017
But qualifying offers do not do many things. They provide the team the right to match an offer. Should the team opt not to do so, there are no “compensatory picks” in an upcoming draft to compensate for losing a player.
And as such, it does not limit the number of teams which can bid on the player’s services.