From Stefan Bondy:
Joakim Noah has until midnight Thursday or else he’s stuck with the Knicks.
That’s the deadline for the exiled center to reach a buyout if he wants to sign elsewhere and be eligible for the playoffs. However, as late as Wednesday afternoon, there had been no progress in negotiations. The Knicks still didn’t want to release Noah without significant money coming back in a buyout, and Noah was unwilling to surrender enough of his guaranteed contract.
Beyond the remaining money owed for this season, Noah still has two years and almost $38 million remaining on his deal. It’s unclear how much the Knicks are asking to retrieve in a buyout.
For the Knicks there’s little incentive to waiving Noah because his money remains on the cap. Although buyouts of multi-year contracts are rare, there is recent precedent of a player giving up substantial money — Deron Williams surrendered $15.5 million of the $43 million remaining on his deal with the Nets in 2015.
“No updates,” Jeff Hornacek said Wednesday.
Do not cut Noah, please. There’s no way he’d ever give back enough money for it to make sense.