New York Knicks‘ big man, Joakim Noah, had the balls to say he loves being in New York, even after getting into a heated argument with former coach Jeff Hornacek last season to the point where Noah was forced to spend time away from the team.
Noah signed a four-year, $72 million deal with the Knicks two years ago in which he’s played in just 53 games. He averaged 5.7 minutes per game in 2017, making him possibly one of the worst signings in the history of the franchise. To be quite honest, the fact that he made it seem as if he wanted to stay in the city that never sleeps, makes me think that he may be going crazy from never sleeping.
What are the New York Knicks going to do with Noah?
General manager Scott Perry has made it very clear that the salary cap killer is very much on the table for a potential trade. Despite the fact that Noah is on the trading block, his confidence in coach Fizdale is much greater than for Hornacek.
When asked during a TMZ interview if he’d worked out with Fizdale, Noah said, “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But coach Fiz is cool, man.”
After having arthroscopic surgery on his knee in 2016, Noah never returned to be the same player he once was. Age and injury have taken a toll on his body, and at this point in his career he might serve as a better bench player than starter. His contract is the major issue here, as he will surely not take a pay-cut and the only way out of the deal is to trade him, bur even if the Knicks were giving him away for free it would be a hard sell.
Ultimately, his influence on the team is dwindling to an end if it hasn’t already, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Fizdale was able to extract any value Noah might have left in his bones.