Joakim Noah has been in exile for several weeks and is no longer part of the New York Knicks. Head coach Jeff Hornacek has now stressed that the Frenchman will not return to the team for the time being.
“We’ve left this behind us. He’s ready to put it behind him and maybe have a chance elsewhere,”said Hornacek after the Knicks’ first training session after the All-Star Break on Tuesday. Noah and the coach had fought fiercely at the end of January and since then the player has not been on the team.
Hornacek now said that Noah will probably stay away from the team, but that he does not know whether he will return this season as it is the decision of Team President Steve Mills and General Manager Scott Perry.
The Knicks had tried to trade Noah before the deadline, but this was not possible in view of the still outstanding $54 million by summer 2020. According to ESPN, the Knicks do not want to dismiss him yet, but the center is also not supposed to be interested in a buyout.
Hornacek, however, repeated several times on Tuesday that he had finished with the situation:”This was three or four weeks ago. It’s not finalized because he’s still in the squad, but we took care of the situation. There’s not much more to say.”
Noah only played the Knicks seven times this season (1.7 points, 2 rebounds).