The New York Knicks Paid Too Much For Joakim Noah In Free Agency

The New York Knicks will be a playoff team next season, but they still overpaid for Joakim Noah in free agency. The Knicks locked down Noah on a four-year contract worth $72 million; however, they might one day lament giving up so much money.

Joakim’s deal won’t become official until July 7, but it has been a foregone conclusion for a while.

Noah will rejoin Derrick Rose in New York, and Phil Jackson is obviously enjoying this process. He has now robbed two players from his former team, the Chicago Bulls, and it should be interesting to see those squads play next year.

The Knicks were in desperate need of a center after trading Robin Lopez along with Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon in the Rose deal, but did they overpay for one? Absolutely. Noah wasn’t exactly a hot commodity on the free agent market, and other teams pulled out of the race for him when they realized how serious he was about New York.

The Knicks must now sign a starting shooting guard. They are apparently targeting Austin Rivers, Evan Turner, Eric Gordon and Courtney Lee. Each of those players presents a different weakness, and it should be fun to watch if Dwyane Wade considers the Knicks. He isn’t pleased with the Miami Heat‘s offer at the moment.

Noah dealt with many injuries last year and only played in 29 games. However, he brings intensity, defense and rebounding to a team that struggled in all of those areas during the 2015-16 campaign. Noah was born in New York, and it was clear from the beginning of free agency that he wanted to be with the Knicks. Rose’s arrival there helped as well, and it should be intriguing to observe what those two can accomplish outside of Chicago. The Bulls never reached their full potential, but Noah might be able to find success in the place of his birth.

The Knicks offered the center too many years on this contract, though, and they’ll ultimately regret signing him.