Ranking the 6 Worst Knicks starters of the Carmelo Anthony era

1. Joakim Noah

In July 2016, the Knicks signed Joakim Noah to a four-year, $72 million contract, now often referred to as one of the worst signings in franchise history. Noah only played one season with Anthony and played only 53 games over two seasons with the Knicks. He missed a lot of time partly because of injuries and was suspended for 20 games in March 2017 for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.

A total of 46 of his 53 games in a Knicks uniform came in Anthony’s final season in New York. Noah started all of those games, averaging 22.1 minutes, 5.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. These are not terrible stats, but it was quite a disappointment for a player who was signed in a win-now move to help the Knicks end their three-year playoff drought.

Just three seasons before Noah signed with the Knicks, he had averaged a double-double with the Bulls for the second consecutive season, putting up 12.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Hopes were that he would be healthy and find his way back into his previous All-Star shape, but that never happened.

The following season, when Anthony had already been traded to the Thunder, Noah only played seven games and barely produced before he was released via a stretch-provision waiver. So, not only was Noah severely overpaid, but he was also not very good as a starter outside of his rebounding and did not help the Knicks get back on track in any way.

https://dailyknicks.com/2023/03/20/9-players-new-york-knicks-gave-up-on-way-too-soon/