New York Knicks: Hang onto Joakim Noah for the time being

New York Knicks fans could care less about saving money for James Dolan, but for the time being, a Joakim Noah buyout doesn’t necessarily benefit the Knicks.

Truth be told, New York Knicks fans are probably care more about where that smell on the subway is coming from than saving some money for Knick owner James Dolan.

And yet, when it comes to a potential buy-out, they don’t necessarily need to rush to push Dolan to free up the roster spot. After all, the Knicks for the first time in a long time boast some youthful upside in their depth chart. Damyean Dotson is making progress every day, Willy Hernangomez is still waiting in the wings for his chance to shine, and even Ron Baker has the ability to slide into an active roll should an injury occur.

And Noah has the experience and the basketball acumen to be a big part of the process…

More from Empire Writes Back

So when it comes to a buy-out, why worry? Noah doesn’t necessarily have the potential to get back to a shadow of his old All Star self, but he has something that anchors a locker room: heart… something most of these young guys will fail without. And without the can-do, team-first mindset that the extremely vocal and willing Noah has so much of, the team is destined to fizzle out.

This is a guy three years removed from the MVP conversation (well, kinda…) who is now willing to play in the G-league, who doesn’t complain when he racks up the DNP-CDs and a handful of “inactive” games.

Next: The burden of being a Knicks fan

Look: We get it… it was a terrible signing from the onset. And of course we can get somebody else to have heart for pennies on the dollar. Noah was the last ill-advised move the Knicks made in a final push to make the Carmelo project work in New York. And the insane contract we gave him was just another Knicks Tale. But the truth is, once you get past the injuries and steep decline in on-court play, Noah has not just some of the intangibles, he has all of them.

Unless the final roster spot goes to the next Hassan Whiteside, which if we are being realistic, isn’t going to happen (the Knicks talent acquisition simply isn’t that good yet), the Knicks are better just letting Noah’s contract be for now, in hopes of selling it as an expiring contract near the end.

Home/New York Knicks