THE New York Knicks are parting with Joakim Noah one way or another.
If they can’t ship Noah through a trade, the Knicks are planning to use the NBA’s waive-and-stretch provision to unload the banished big man sometime next month.
Adrian Wojnarowski and Ian Begley of ESPN reported the development.
The 33-year-old Noah still has two years and $37.8 million left on his contract, including $18.5 million due this season, and the Knicks plan to wait until September before waiving him to spread the balance of his remaining deal into smaller salary cap chunks over the next three years.
The Knicks can save $12.9 million on their salary cap if they use the stretch provision on or after September 1, reducing Noah’s cap hit to $6.4 million that will be counted toward the team’s salary cap space in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
According to Wojnarowski and Begley, Noah’s $18.5 million salary for this season still counts toward the Knicks' salary cap, although that number could be lessened if a buyout is agreed upon, or if New York doesn't waive the set-off in his contract.
Noah had a run-in with former coach Jeff Hornacek late January, leading to an inevitable and irreparable separation a month later.