New York Knicks: Joakim Noah situation a failed offseason task
The New York Knicks have failed to address the Joakim Noah situation thus far this offseason.
By all accounts, the New York Knicks have had a strong offseason. They added a new head coach in David Fizdale, who has brought some excitement to the organization. On the roster, the Knicks have brought in some intriguing pieces as well.
Early returns from the 2018 NBA Draft are that New York hit home runs. Kevin Knox, the No. 9 overall pick, and Mitchell Robinson, No. 36, both played very well in NBA Summer League. The team and fans are hopeful they will create a promising young core, along with Kristaps Porzingis and Frank Ntilikina, to get the team out of the doldrums.
While the organization seems to be heading in the right direction, there is still one elephant in the room: Joakim Noah.
Noah signed a lucrative four-year, $72 million deal in 2016 as Phil Jackson attempted to speed up the rebuild. It was a bad deal at the time and has only gotten worse with each passing day.
For all of that money, the Knicks have received 53 games played and 46 starts. In those 53 games, Noah has averaged 4.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.7 blocks in 19.9 minutes per game.
Jackson was arguably the only person in the world that couldn’t see the downfall of Noah coming. After seeing his production plummet and health eroding in his final two seasons with the Chicago Bulls, Jackson still handed him that big-money contract. Now, Scott Perry and Steve Mills are left with the mess that came to a head last season.
Noah was serving a suspension to begin the season and never got into the rotation. When injuries arose, it looked like he would finally get his chance. Jeff Hornacek, the head coach at the time, had other ideas and Noah never really got the shot he expected.
It resulted in a heated exchange between the two during practice. The resolution from the spat was Noah being banished from the team. Figuring out what to do with Noah was one of the things atop the Knicks’ to-do list this offseason, and it has not been taken care of yet.
Over at Bleacher Report, the inability to find a resolution was picked as the team’s failed task to address this offseason. Based on what other things the Knicks did, it would be hard to argue against that.
There have been different rumblings in recent months about what the Knicks could do with the veteran center. With a new coach in place, maybe Noah would be given a chance to redeem himself. However, that does not seem to be the case.
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According to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ian Begley of ESPN, the Knicks seem ready to part ways with Noah and have no plans of working him back into their team:
"“The New York Knicks remain unlikely to reincorporate exiled center Joakim Noah into the team under new coach David Fizdale and still plan to part ways with the veteran big man before training camp.”"
While Bleacher Report referred to the situation as only a slight issue, that could quickly become a bigger issue depending on the route the Knicks take.
Dumping Noah’s contract, similar to what the Los Angeles Lakers did with Timofey Mozgov last offseason, would be ideal. It would probably cost the Knicks some future assets, but depending on the price, it could be worth it.
What the Knicks should not do is use the stretch provision on Noah. While it would clear some of his money off the books, it would extend how long they have to pay him.
For an organization looking to become players in free agency in the years to come, this wouldn’t be ideal. Paying a player for years just to go away is a poor way to do business.
For the Knicks, working him back into the lineup and seeing if he has anything to offer — especially as a mentor for Robinson — should be the way to go. If Noah shows he can still help out a team, it would be easier to trade him. Also, if it came to it, working on a buyout next summer when Noah would be on an expiring contract wouldn’t cost the Knicks cap space in the future.
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The fact that the Knicks seem unsettled on a route to take with Noah isn’t encouraging given where we are at in the offseason.