When training camp begins next month, 6-11 center Nerlens Noel and the Mavericks will be in diplomacy mode.

They will tell us that restricted free agent Noel's decision to sign a one-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer could be a win-win for the player and organization.

They will tell us the summer-long negotiation impasse that abruptly ended with Noel's baffling decision was strictly business. Nothing personal.

The media and fans will suspect differently, though, which could create a season-long distraction. When Dallas acquired Noel from Philadelphia last Feb. 23, we assumed it would be a long marriage. Now we'll watch for signs of dysfunction and speculate about how long the relationship will last.

Noel, 23, reportedly made the decision this past week, shortly after he replaced agent Happy Walters with Klutch Sports' Rich Paul, who also represents LeBron James.

Citing sources close to Noel, an ESPN.com story on Saturday stated that midweek reports of a $17 million-per-year Mavericks offer was "nonexistent in any form," but Walters tweeted, "You can't rewrite history for [Paul]. [Mark Cuban] offered a 4 year $70m deal and Nerlens passed."

Sources told The News that Walters advised Noel to accept Dallas' offer, but Noel wouldn't budge in his belief that his worth is closer to the max four-year offer of $106 million that he could have received.

By accepting the one-year qualifying offer, Noel is betting on himself to expand upon his career 10.0-point, 7.5-rebound averages and earn a lucrative long-term contract next summer, when he will be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent.

Noel, though, also is taking considerable risk. What if he gets hurt? He sat out what would have been his NBA rookie season, 2013-14, after undergoing knee ligament surgery. In three ensuing seasons, he has played 75, 67 and 51 games, with last season split between the Sixers and Mavericks.

Get this: Noel's $4.18 million salary actually will be a pay cut from the $4.38 million he made last season.

Using as a guide the four-year, $70 million contract Kent Bazemore signed last year with Atlanta, Noel could have made $15.73 million with the Mavericks this season, $16.9 million next season and finishing salaries of $18.09 million and $19.27 million.

So this season alone, Noel will earn about $11.5 million less than he could have made had he accepted Dallas' four-year offer. His next contract will need to be a whopper, with a first-year salary well north of $20 million, to recoup the money he's bypassing this season.

Under collective bargaining rules, the Mavericks' qualifying offer would have been on the table until Oct. 1, but Noel and Paul obviously concluded that there was no way to strike a compromise with the Mavericks -- or had no desire to do so.

Upon hearing last week that Noel had turned down $17 million per year from the Mavericks, Portland guard C.J. McCollum tweeted, "My guy needs better friends and advisors in his circle." And that was before Noel accepted the qualifying offer. Similar sentiment to McCollum's likely will follow Noel this season.

And if you truly believe these contract decisions are all business and not personal, think back to last February, when Noel's mother, Dorcina, and younger sister Nashdah visited Dallas and attended a Mavericks game.

At the time, Dorcina expressed her love for Dallas and her hopes of moving here to be closer to Nerlens and help him continue to acclimate to NBA life.

On Saturday, I phoned Dorcina to ask if Nerlens' decision to sign for one season might alter her plans.

Dorcina had spent most of the last two months in her native Haiti, with a stopover on her way back home to Delaware to check on a sick relative in Miami. Dorcina was unaware of Nerlens' decision, although he was due to arrive later Saturday to discuss his contract and the ramifications.

"He told me two weeks ago he's willing to sign for four years with Dallas, but they're not giving him much money for four years," Dorcina said. "He told me he was asking for about $22 million a year, but Dallas refused to give it to him.

"He told me, 'If Dallas gives me $20 million, I'm going to be there because they love me there. I said, 'Yeah, I love it there, too.'"

Dorcina said she would wait to talk to Nerlens before deciding what to do, but her initial thought is that moving to Dallas doesn't seem logical.

"He told me if Dallas signed him for four years, 'Mom, when you move there, I'm going to buy [the house] for you.' Because I need to stay for life there.

"You know what the problem is? When he signs his deal for one year, I don't think I'm going to move there for one year. I don't like back-and-forth, back-and-forth moving, you know?"

Yes, this was a business decision, but how could it not also be personal for the 23-year-old who not long ago dreamed of buying his mother a big house in Dallas and playing here for many years?