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Nerlens Noel has promised to make the teams thats passed on him pay

((Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images))

Nerlens Noel wasn't supposed to get past the No. 1 pick. He wasn't supposed to fall out of the top five, and he certainly wasn't supposed to get traded.

He wasn't supposed to be the player the cameras were glued too as he slipped lower and lower.

Which is why Noel will have one goal when takes the court next season.

"I'm going to make them pay," Noel said of the teams that passed on him.

A motived Noel is likely exactly what the Sixers were looking for. While each year a player vows to make a team pay for passing on them, it's not every year that player was supposed to be the No. 1 pick, however.

The Sixers took a major risk on Thursday when they traded their best player to land Noel, but if he makes good on his promise, it will be well worth it. Noel has the potential to be one of the most athletic centers in the league. His combination of speed, size, and athleticism could make him a franchise changing player if he can return from his ACL injury to be the player he was at Kentucky.

Noel will have every chance to make good on his word. The Sixers traded their franchise player to get Noel, effectively handing the team to him. When he's healthy, he'll start, and he'll be the focal point of the team.

There is a reason Noel was supposed to be the No. 1 pick. There was also a reason that six teams passed on him.

Now it's just up to him to prove them wrong.

Follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks