Although he received a substantial amount of money not to play for the New York Knicks in the next two years, center Joakim Noah doesn’t mean to lay back and enjoy it. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, Noah is close to agreeing to a one-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.
According to the sources close to the league, Grizzlies contacted Noah for negotiations four weeks ago. The deal between the two sides should be announced at some point next week.
Noah will travel to Memphis on Sunday and sign his one-year deal with the Grizzlies early next week, league sources said. Memphis (12-8) has targeted Noah as backup center all season. https://t.co/zOMqRi2mnj
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 30, 2018
After confronting with the Knicks’ then-coach Jeff Hornacek in January 2018, Joakim Noah was sent away from the team and never got back. New York then tried to trade the 33-year-old in the offseason, but no one was willing to take his contract which would pay him $37.8 million in the next two years. Failing to find a trade partner for Noah, Knicks decided to use waive-and-stretch provision on his contract before the start of the regular season.
Joakim Noah never justified the big money New York Knick spent on him and ended up playing only 46 games for the New York Knicks as a starter, averaging 5.0 points, 8.7 rebound, and 2.2 assists per game. Still, he could prove to be a good addition for the Memphis Grizzlies and their style of play, being former NBA Defensive Player of the Year.