Report: Wolves and Thunder would be interested in Joakim Noah
If the New York Knicks cut ties with Joakim Noah, a couple of teams would actually have interest in the veteran big man.
One of the worst mistakes of Phil Jackson’s tenure as New York Knicks’ president came in the summer of 2016, with a four-year, $72 million deal for Joakim Noah. He has delivered 53 games of action, averaging 4.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, including only seven games played so far this season.
Noah took a leave of absence from the Knicks in late January, with the added element of a reported run-in with head coach Jeff Hornacek during a practice. A return to the team is hard to see anytime soon, and Noah may not suit up for the Knicks again this season.
With two more full years at close to $38 million left on his bloated contract, a buyout would be complicated for the Knicks. Noah is unsurprisingly not open to that possibility, since it would surely include not getting the full remainder of his ill-conceived contract.
But if the Knicks do manage to buy Noah out, a couple teams would have interest in him.
Assuming the Knicks don’t find a trade for Joakim Noah, opposing executives expect OKC and Minnesota to be among the teams interested in Noah if he’s waived or bought out by the Knicks, per sources. As of earlier this week, Noah remained opposed to a buyout, sources say.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 8, 2018
The Knicks, without adding a first-round pick to the mix, won’t find a realistic trade to get rid of Noah in the hours before Thursday’s deadline. Picking him up off waivers would mean assuming his contract, so that’s an obvious dead-end for any team. Once he clears waivers, then a team can name their own terms on a contract.
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The tie from Noah to the Timberwolves is obvious, with former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau there along with former teammates Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson.
But the 2014 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and two-time All-Defensive Team honoree, is a shell of what he was in his prime with the Bulls and has been worth a total of 3.4 Defensive Win Shares over the last three seasons (82 games played). By comparison, Noah accounted for a previous season-low 2.3 Defensive Win Shares (via Basketball Reference) as a rookie in 2007-08 and was worth at least 3.1 Defensive Wins Shares in six straight seasons (2009-10 to 2014-15).