When the Knicks signed 27-year-old Nerlens Noel to a one-year, $5 million deal, they didn’t anticipate him becoming such an influential factor. As a former first-round selection with the sixth overall pick in 2013, Noel has bounced around the league from Philadelphia to Dallas to Oklahoma and now New York.
However, Noel was always expected to back up Mitchell Robinson, who has missed time this season due to a fractured hand and most recently fractured his right foot, which could keep them out for the remainder of the 2020-21 campaign.
In Robinson’s absence, Noel and Taj Gibson have supplemented his loss, but the 6’11”, 220-pound center has given everything and more than what the Knicks expected.