The New York Knicks would have preferred to trade veteran big man Joakim Noah, but the organization wasn't willing to part ways with a first-round pick.
Knicks general manager Scott Perry addressed the release of Noah on Tuesday, saying the team waived and stretched him because he wasn't a good fit for the club moving forward, via Ian Begley of ESPN.
On the decision to waive Joakim Noah & stretch the final year ($19.3M) of his deal, NYK GM Scott Perry said he tried to trade Noah but he didn’t want to include a 1st round pick in any trades. Perry also addresses idea of keeping Noah & trying to trade him later in the season: pic.twitter.com/jqw3gvTC6m
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 16, 2018
The Joakim Noah era in New York was a disaster. Former Knicks president Phil Jackson signed Noah to a four-year, $72 million free agent deal in the summer of 2016. The 2014 Defensive Player of the Year got into a heated argument with ex-coach Jeff Hornacek last season, and that turned out to be the end of Noah’s brief and disappointing tenure with the Knicks.
In 53 games with New York, Noah averaged a meager 4.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. The two-time All-Star, who used to be one of the best centers in the game, hasn’t been the same player since undergoing a knee procedure in the summer of 2014 when he was still with the Chicago Bulls. Noah has also endured a shoulder injury which required surgery.
In February 2017, the NBA suspended Noah 20 games for taking a banned substance. He was suspended for the first 12 games of the 2017-18 season. It's not a surprise the Knicks weren't able to trade Noah without including a draft pick. He's a complete shell of himself and had way too much money left on his contract.
So far, there haven't been any teams appearing to have interest in Noah, who has career averages of 8.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in 625 NBA games. The 33-year-old's playing career could be in jeopardy.
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