Dallas Mavericks center Nerlens Noel will miss the final five games of the season after being suspended five games for violating the NBA’s drug policy.
No details were provided in the league’s announcement of Noel’s violation of the terms of the anti-drug program.
The suspension, which starts Wednesday night, is without pay, meaning it’ll cost Noel $144,000, according to ESPN basketball insider Bobby Marks.
The suspension removes a reasonably effective Noel, who's averaged five points and eight rebound in 20 minutes of action over the last month, from the lineup. On paper, that's a loss – but it figures to only help the Mavericks in the race to the bottom of the league (and thus a better draft pick).
As of the announcement of the suspension, the Mavs had the fifth-worst record in the league, one win better than both the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks.
Noel has started just six games during a turbulent 2017-18 season with Dallas. He almost entirely fell out of the Mavs’ rotation in November and missed three months of action, during which he had thumb surgery.
His off-the-court saga hit a bizarre peak when Noel was seen grabbing a hotdog from the media dining room during a Dec. 2 game at the American Airlines Center.
The Mavericks traded for the injury-prone former Kentucky standout last season with hopes he’d be the team’s center of the future. After holding out for a max contract that never came during the offseason, Noel settled for a one-year, $8 million deal with Dallas.
Utah Jazz forward Thabo Sefolosha was also given a five-game suspension for a drug violation. Sefolosha, who had knee surgery in January, will begin serving his suspension when he’s eligible to play.
