By acquiring Chris Paul in the trade which sent Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets, Nerlens Noel has been forced to make a change. Not necessarily in his game or anything of the sort. Actually, it’s something far more trivial.
It’s his jersey number.
Noel took No. 3 when he signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder last offseason, having first made the switch from No. 4 when he was traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Dallas Mavericks in 2016-17. He also wore No. 3 in his one year at Kentucky.
But now, it’d be a bold move on Noel’s part to keep the same number in 2019-20 with Paul coming to town, considering the No. 3 is a fairly substantial part of the point guard’s “CP3” brand.
It turns out, Noel has settled on a new number and handed No. 3 over to Paul. According to Etienne Catalan on Twitter, Noel has selected No. 9.
Additionally, Catalan indicates Luguentz Dort will wear No. 5 for the Thunder. Dort wore No. 14 for the Thunder during NBA Summer League and No. 0 in his one season with Arizona State.
Dort confirmed he’ll wear no. 5 on Twitter
