Several playoff-bound teams are keeping an eye on Joakim Noah‘s situation in New York and would consider signing him if he reaches free agency, sources tell Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. According to Isola, the Warriors, Timberwolves, and Thunder are among the teams monitoring the Knicks center.
As Isola notes, the Wolves represent an obvious fit for Noah since the team already features several familiar faces for the veteran center, including Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, and head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau. Golden State and Oklahoma City also believe that Noah’s experience and defensive ability would help shore up their respective benches, Isola adds.
If the Knicks do decide to release Noah, he’d want it to happen by March 1 so that he’d be eligible to play in the postseason for a new team. However, the two sides appear to be engaged in a stalemate, so there’s certainly no guarantee he’ll be available in the coming days.
As Ian Begley of ESPN details (via Twitter), both Noah and the Knicks would likely welcome a fresh start, but the team is reluctant to eat his entire contract by waiving him, and Noah has thus far been unwilling to give back much – if any – of the money left on his lucrative deal. Counting his remaining prorated salary this season, the big man is still owed approximately $42.5MM through 2019/20.
If they do get a chance to sign Noah, the Warriors would have to waive a player, since they currently have a full 15-man squad. The Timberwolves and Thunder each have an open roster spot.
If they want him they missed out too bad, can’t have your cake and eat it too. Maybe this offseason they can go right ahead and trade him for a bag of peanuts and take his salary.
They didn’t miss out. No one wants Noah’s contract. And why would they? He’s not even worth half his contract at this point. Hell, wasn’t worth half the contract when he signed it.
Other teams are only keeping an eye on the situation because it would make Noah available for close to minimum money. That’s about what they’re willing to pay for his services. If that scenario comes to fruition, they’ll go after him.
The real loser in this is the Knicks. They’re not getting out of the money here. Even if they traded Noah in the off-season, they’d have to take back bad contracts in the process because no team wants to add that sunken salary to their books.
After next season he’s an expiring deal which could prove useful at that point. The contract is still horrendous but I would look at it as an opportunity to sign and trade for one of the guys in that star FA class in ‘19 if nothing else.
If I was the Knicks and there was no benefit to doing it sooner I would wait until after March 1st. His behavior shouldn’t be rewarded by allowing him to play in the playoffs.
Sounds like Phil is still running the Knicks.
I agree. Why do Noah any favors? If I were the Knicks I would tell him to stay home for the remainder of the year and then re-evaluate your options in the summer. While cap space would be nice for them, they aren’t competing in 2018-2019 (at least not a high level) so they don’t really need cap space for next year.
I’m sure the Knicks are using it as leverage. They’ll release him before March 1 if he takes a lesser buyout. But to release him after March 1 isn’t any type of threat or punishment. The Knicks goal isn’t to get rid of Noah, it’s to get rid of Noah w/o paying the entirety of his contract. What type of punishment is it for Noah to be released after March 1? That’d basically be a continuation of th status quo. The Knicks would be paying him his entire contract, and he would t be playing.
He attacked a coach who happens to be white sounds like trouble
I thought the report was actually the opposite. The coach attacked him.
There’s conflicting reports about that. With some saying Hornacek shoved Noah, some saying Noah shoved Hornacek, and some saying nothing serious happened.
Shoving…? Hold my beer.
– Latrell Spreewell
Would be interesting to see Adams & Noah playing on the same team. Would give OKC some more angst & toughness.
If NY were to do it, it would be after March 1st – just to piss Noah off.
But it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s still a Knick come this November
I hope they make him sit for the remainder of the contract take the hit just to destroy his career and legacy
This is a test for new Knick management. Unless Noah agrees to reduce the amount owed in his final year, then it’s not in the Knicks’ interest to release Noah either at all, or certainly before the Summer of 2019. In the past the Knicks have sought to accommodate players, and that’s fine to a degree and for a player who’s done right by the franchise. That’s not Noah. Who says he can still play, and if that’s the case, he won’t lose anything by giving back a portion of the last year of his contract with 2+ years to make it up.