Veteran center Joakim Noah is reportedly close to a contract buyout agreement with the New York Knicks, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Noah has worked diligently this offseason, and several teams are monitoring his upcoming entrance in free agency. https://t.co/GNCcPnKILl
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 23, 2018
The Knicks and Noah reportedly planned to part ways earlier this summer. In February, the Knicks announced they had reached a mutual agreement with Noah for him to take an indefinite leave of absence from the team. At that point, Noah had not been around the team since Jan. 25.
Noah signed with the Knicks in the summer of 2016 in hopes he could make an impact on New York’s defense and front line. Since signing with New York, though, Noah has played in 53 games (starting 46 of them) and has lost time to various injuries. He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last February and shoulder surgery last April.
In March of 2017, he was suspended 20 games by the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. That suspension cost him the first 12 games of the 2017-18 season. In 2016-17, Noah averaged five points and 8.8 rebounds in 26 minutes. Last season, he averaged 1.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.7 minutes in seven games.
The two-time All-Star averaged 9.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 blocks during his first nine season with Chicago.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
