New York Knicks: Grading The 2016 Offseason
By Jemayel Mall
Many believed two years ago that Carmelo Anthony should have taken less money to go to the Chicago Bulls because they were in a win-now position. Melo almost left for the Windy City. Who knows how that would have played out?
What everyone knows now is Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose got injured. Since Anthony didn’t go to the Bulls, the Bulls are now coming to Anthony.
Noah, a native New Yorker, signed a four-year $72 million contract with the New York Knicks. Analytics will tell you that, under the new cap, this is roughly the same as Robin Lopez was making with the Knicks last year under the old cap.
The counter argument to that is, if Lopez would have stayed with the Knicks, his contract would have taken an even smaller percentage of the Knicks’ cap.
Is Noah a better player than Robin Lopez? Of course he is—when he’s healthy. That’s the key. The best ability is availability. If Noah is available and healthy, then he’s better than Lopez without question.
But Lopez is a Noah-type player who is younger and who doesn’t have the injury history that Noah does.
Next: Joakim Noah, Part II