Joakim Noah’s NBA career has hit quite the roadblock over the last few years. Since signing a four-year, $72 million deal with the New York Knicks in the now-infamous summer of 2016, Noah has struggled to get onto the floor because of a combination of injuries, the inability to find his groove on the floor, and off-court drama centering around himself and former Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek.
While Hornacek is no longer in New York, it had become obvious that Noah was not in the team’s long-term plans. After extensive negotiations, the veteran center was waived, and it was reported in the aftermath that the Memphis Grizzlies were interested in bringing him on board as a veteran presence in their frontcourt.
It turns out those rumblings were true, and on Friday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Noah will join the Grizzlies on a one-year deal.
Joakim Noah has agreed to a one-year, veteran's minimum deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, per league sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 30, 2018
Noah gives Memphis a veteran option behind Marc Gasol if, of course, he is healthy enough to contribute and has anything left in the tank. If he does not, though, Noah will at the very least give the Grizzlies a veteran in their locker room and another potential person to mentor precocious big man Jaren Jackson.
It’s a low-risk move for a Memphis team that looks like it will be in the hunt for a postseason spot this season, and for Noah, it’s a chance for him to potentially show that his time in New York wasn’t representative of what he can still bring to a franchise.
