If the New York Knicks and Joakim Noah reach a buyout agreement by the March 1 deadline for him to join a playoff team, the Golden State Warriors are ready to pounce.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News first reported that the Warriors, along with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, would have interest in the 33-year-old big man. Marc Berman of the New York Post has since reiterated Golden State’s position while noting what it would take for the Knicks to cut Noah loose:
March 1 is the deadline for Noah to be waived in order for him to be eligible for the playoffs. Noah has two years left on his $72 million contract after this season, and the Knicks would only waive him if he agrees to a buyout and left money on the table.
A fair estimate for Noah to forgo would be $5 million. That would be a little more than his take the next two seasons if he signed with another club for the veteran’s minimum, which is $2.3 million.
If he did forgo the $5 million, the Knicks would save roughly $2.5 million on the salary cap in the summers of 2019 and 2020. . . .
Golden State has monitored Noah’s situation. One league personnel director said Noah makes sense for the Warriors, who have a habit of “collecting role-playing big men who defend and rebound.’’ Al Horford, his former Florida mate, said he’d love to have Noah on the Celtics and thinks he’ll be a good addition to a playoff team.
In the event Noah is willing to forfeit $5 million of the $37.8 million left on his contract after this season, the Knicks would be wise to just hit the eject button. He’d still count against their books for each of the next two years, but they wouldn’t have the issue linger. More importantly, this prevents them from including sweeteners to trade him over the summer. It also prevents them from stretching his contract.
They could save more than $10 million by going that route this summer, but he would count against their books for the next five years at $7.6 million a pop. That’s not insignificant money; it’s basically flushing between 85-plus percent of the full mid-level exception down the toilet every year.
If the Knicks think waiting until the summer will compel Noah to give up more money in a buyout, then they’re well within their rights to wait. But keeping him on the books doesn’t help their optics. His situation is a cloud hanging over their franchise. And if they’re going to pay him anyway, they might as well shave a little off the top and let him sign elsewhere to soften the blow.
