The Knicks Want To Get Rid Of Joakim Noah After A ‘Heated Verbal Exchange’ With Jeff Hornacek

Joakim Noah’s tenure in New York hasn’t exactly gone well. After signing a massive four-year, $72 million deal with the Knicks during the summer of 2016, Noah has turned into a shell of what he used to be as a player. In the year and a half that he’s suited up for the franchise, Noah has appeared in 53 total games for a myriad of reasons.

Basically, it’s hard to see anyone who thinks Noah’s contract was a good idea, and for a Knicks team that is trying to build around younger players and have an eye on the future, having him around is kind of unnecessary. The issue, of course, is that it’s hard to imagine any team that would take on his contract.

But in light of recent events, the Knicks have decided to roll up their sleeves and get to work. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Noah and head coach Jeff Hornacek got into it during practice recently, which has led to the Knicks looking into getting him out of New York.

New York seems to be in a similar situation with Noah that the Lakers are in with Luol Deng. They’re dealing with a disgruntled older player, but any trade that gets rid of them would have to include a young asset or a high draft pick. The difference, of course, is that the Lakers have more assets to move (even if they don’t want to), while the Knicks don’t have too many super appealing young players outside of Kristaps Porzingis (who is not getting traded in a Noah salary dump, and if he does, I will eat a shoe) and Frank Ntilikina.

So in the event the Knicks want to get rid of Noah, you’d almost have to assume that a buyout is the way to go. Who knows if that will happen — unless he really wants to play, Noah can sit back and just make $17+ million a year from the Knicks and chill out in New York until his deal is up — but we’ll have to wait and see if that’s the way Noah’s tenure as a Knick comes to an end.