He just put up historical defensive numbers for a player his age. He's already a top 5-10 defensive player in the league
The first sentence is true, the second isn't.
In terms of blocks and steals, very few players have put them together in combination like Noel has. He's an active defender, and fills up the stat sheet.
However, he's still a work in progress. If you look at his synergy stats, there were some areas of defense that he really struggled with.
Didn't he finish 8th in the league defensive rating? I remember reading that post all-star break, philly had the best defense in the entire league in minutes noel was on the court. He also limited opponents to 45% shooting at the rim... 6th in the league.
Big Al finsihed 14th and Scola 20th so they're both top 20 defenders.
Neat. Where are the stats disproving Noel's defensive dominance as a 20 year old rookie coming off major surgery with a single limited season of college ball on his resume? Only 20 times has anyone put up his blocks and steals... 10 of times times were Hakeem. For the season philly was a top 12 defense. 24th with noel on the bench. Top 3 with him playing. You aren't getting a player with his potential for mediocre picks and players. It will take a package built around Marcus smart.
Listen, you could harp about him being a good defender all you want, which I'm not denying, only disagreeing at the pedestal (top 5-10 defender) you have him at. However, what you won't dare touch, and continue to ignore, is what a below average offensive player he is. Have you seen any improvement in him offensively since he was at Kentucky? So essentially what you're saying is that it would take Smart, #16 pick (say Portis), and "a lot more" for a one way player?
He's shooting 8% better on FTs, he's a good passer and he's a good finisher at the rim. He also built a jump shot more or less from scratch this offseason and got it to bad, but not unwatchable by the end of the season.
Any Center who can pass out of the post and finish at the rim can be a useful offensive player. If Marcus Smart continues to struggle at the rim and the 3pt shot plateaus here he's a much less useful player than Noel offensively.
As far as Gobert vs Noel, not really sure how you can look at Gobert's age 21 season and Noel's age 20 season and not come away leaning towards Noel...