BOSTON - NBA players have been known to play with a torn thumb ligament.

Devin Harris did it late in the season and during the playoffs in 2016.

Nerlens Noel's situation is different. Unlike Harris, who was under a long-term contract, Noel is heading into free agency. He also has fallen out of the playing rotation.

For those reasons - plus the fact that Noel has trouble just catching a basketball because of the torn ligament near his left thumb - the veteran center will have surgery to correct the problem.

Noel will fly from Boston to Cleveland on Thursday to meet with a hand specialist and will have surgery Friday, the Mavericks said. He will likely miss about four to six weeks, but the hope is that Noel will be back on the court before the trade deadline.

The timing, of course, doesn't look great.

Noel has become an afterthought in coach Rick Carlisle's rotation and while he has handled the situation diplomatically, it's fair to say the season has been a colossal disappointment so far from both Noel's and the Mavericks' perspective.

Owner Mark Cuban said this is not a case of Noel having the procedure done so that he can be "put out to pasture" for the season.

Noel injured the thumb early in the season, although he could not remember precisely which game. He played with it for a while, but the situation has not improved and, with him set to become a free agent this summer, it makes sense from his standpoint to have the procedure so that he can return in the second half of the season and try to rebuild some of his market value with a healthy hand.

For the Mavericks, he can't help the team in his current state, so it makes sense.

"It's not anything crazy," Noel said. "It's a pretty common injury for a basketball player. I'm just going to get it taken care of. I showed it to the trainers and they said, that it's not right. They said I should probably get some surgery and get it fixed up now.

"I can play basketball with it. A couple guys in here have had it."

One of those was Harris, who had a similar surgery done after the season ended in 2016. But he also was under a long-term contract at the time, which does get factored into the situation. Noel wants to make sure all teams, the Mavericks included, know he's not damaged goods going into the summer.

Assuming things go well, Noel could be back on the court by mid-January, which would give him time to try to get back into the playing rotation. The injury certainly played a part in his lack of playing time the past month.

"He's got a torn ligament that's affecting his ability to catch the ball and things like that," Carlisle. "As for all the other stuff. He's a part of this team and he's been very professional. Our No. 1 thing as a franchise is to get him 100-percent healthy and go from there."

Noel said he'll come back with the same outlook that he's tried to keep during the time when he's essentially been the last man on the bench.

"I'm not really too worried," he said. "I'm in a great place. I know I can step on the court at any time and change the game. I'm just going to keep working."

Twitter: @ESefko