Summary
Noel may not be the disruptive defensive presence that made him a top prospect coming out of high school and after his freshman year at Kentucky, but he can provide some rim protection. Noel has improved his discipline on defense, but still isn't elite on that end. After Mitchell Robinson broke his hand, Noel stepped into a starting role for the Knicks, and largely looked like a reliable starting center. His block and steal rates are elite, and he does so without chasing too many blocks. Noel has some ability to switch out and defend on the perimeter, but can get burned by upper-tier guards.

On offense, Noel is nothing more than a lob threat, but he doesn't need to do much else. He's not one that can make plays out of the short-roll, allowing the defense to trap hard and not worry about Noel unless he's open for a dunk. However, Noel's athleticism gives him some versatility on both ends, which could make him an intriguing free agent to a number of teams.

Cap Considerations
Noel will be an unrestricted free agent with a $6 million cap hold and Non-Bird rights. Since his cap hold is above his market value, his cap hold really isn't that relevant, as the Knicks will either let him walk in order to maximize their cap space, or they will re-sign Noel and cut into some of their space. Using his Non-Bird rights, the Knicks can offer Noel a starting salary of $6 million, which should be more than enough. If it's not, the Knicks could always use cap space to re-sign him.
 
Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Noel as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer, Taxpayer, or possibly even the Room Mid-Level Exceptions to sign him.