The New York Knicks are reportedly looking to trade Joakim Noah less than five months after he was signed via free agency as the former NBA Defensive Player of the Year awardee has not met expectation at the Big Apple this season.
Noah, a native of New York City, was signed by the Knicks to a four-year, $72 million deal in July and was projected to become the face of the Knicks' frontcourt moving forward.
He had spent all of his previous nine-year professional career with the Chicago Bulls and was a two-time All-Star, an All-NBA First Teamer in 2014, and was the league's premier defensive player also during the same year.
Noah was expected to bring his trademark energy and tenacity to New York, but that is not yet happening with his new squad with the 31-year-old only averaging 4.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 0.7 blocks in 22.2 minutes of playing time a night in 14 games so far.
The New York Post reported that having Noah back from injury is a "problem" for the Knicks as the team has been more productive when the former Florida Gators standout is sidelined.
Head coach Jeff Hornacek has been utilizing Kyle O'Quinn as his starting center in the last two games and it resulted in two of the team's best wins this season, against powerhouses Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers respectively. However, Hornacek remains hopeful that Noah will get back to his old form soon.
"We know if we can get him a lot of times on the pick-and -roll on the side, he's got a crossover dribble, one long stride to the basket and he finishes," said Hornacek. "Early on in his career he'd do that and dunk it on you. He's getting pretty close to that now. You've seen some of the explosive moves he's made."
Meanwhile, HNGN indicated that Noah could be traded to Minnesota in midseason as Wolves head coach Tom Thibodeau has recently expressed his desire to acquire some of his former players.
Thibodeau is reportedly looking to get Luol Deng from the Lakers and Jimmy Butler or Taj Gibson from the Bulls while Noah is said to be an option as well.
The report said that Thibodeau is willing to part ways with one of his young stars to get Noah, but it remains to be seen which one Minnesota is willing to deal for the declining veteran.
