Did The Mammoth Overpay for Noble ?

Did The Mammoth Overpay for Noble ?

After months of Jeremy Noble sitting ideally on the sidelines awaiting a trade from the Rochester Knighthawks, the ax finally fell last Friday afternoon, as the Rochester Knighthawks sent Noble to the Colorado Mammoth, along with a 3rd round selection in 2017, in exchange for a 3rd round selection in 2015, and first round picks in 2016 and 2017.

While Jeremy Noble is an elite NLL prospect, capable of producing at a potent rate as a rookie, many people around the league questioned if the Mammoth overpaid for the 23 year old Orangeville, Ontario native. So did Colorado Overpay for Jeremy Noble ?

There are two ways to look at it in my opinion. The first being yes they did over pay, and here’s why, The Rochester Knighthawks had little to no wiggle room in where they could trade Noble, he was adamant that he wanted to play close to where he resides in Denver, Colorado. Not only did the Mammoth have to give up two first rounders and a third, but they also had to release veteran Sean Pollock to make room for Noble. Pollock was producing for the Mammoth, and is highly undervalued as he does the gritty things offenses need to succeed. Not only do they mortgage the future in moving the picks, they had to release a key cog from their offense. With the Mammoth knowing they where likely the only true contender for Noble’s service, they could have used that leverage to lower the asking price.

With that being said, you can also argue the price they paid wasn’t all that bad. If Jeremy Noble’s stance was he’d play anywhere but Rochester, you can beat every team in the NLL would have been lining up for his services. Noble is a special prospect, a proven winner and arguably the next superstar in the making. As evidence of his 2 goal, 5 assist, 7 point NLL debut Noble has the ability to produce right away and in a very closely contested West Division, he may be the piece the Mammoth need to win the division. At just 23 years of age Noble will be an NLL stalwart for at least the next 10 years, and one could argue the first round picks Colorado gave up in the deal may never result in impactful NLL players.

I do feel the release of Sean Pollock to create a roster spot for Noble will hurt the Mammoth however. Pollock is a great off ball, he’s a guy that can get his teammates open, doesn’t need to touch the ball on every possession to excel and is a great team guy. I truly believe his presence will be missed. An offense can’t have all finesse and no grit, Pollock brought the grit and now that’s something Colorado lacks offensively.

All in all, you can debate the topic to death, there are people who’ll believe Noble’s skills don’t warrant the price the Mammoth paid, there will be people who feel the price was adequate, and there will be people who think the Mammoth stole Noble from Rochester. You can really make a case for all three, should both first round picks Rochester received turn into the next Cody Jamieson and Rob Hellyer.. then yea Colorado overpaid, but until then I believe this a fair deal for both clubs.