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After relinquishing Joakim Noah on Saturday, the New York Knicks will use the stretch clause for the final year of his contract to free up space to pursue the best free agents in the summer of 2019, said at ESPN sources close to the league.
The use of the extension clause reduces Noah's $ 19.3 million cap in 2019-2020 to $ 6.4 million, saving the team $ 12.9 million. salary cap. To expand his contract, however, the Knicks will cost $ 6.4 million in US space in the summers of 2020 and 2021.
Next summer, the class of free agents will include Golden State striker Kevin Durant, Toronto striker Kawhi Leonard, Boston playmaker Kyrie Irving and Minnesota striker Jimmy Butler. Irving, however, said earlier this month that he was considering signing with the Celtics again.
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With the contract of Noah contracted, New York is about to have enough space for a maximum of players.
If the Knicks, as expected, do not give Kristaps Porzingis a maximum extension of the rookie before Oct. 15, they plan to have $ 31 million room next summer. The room does not take into account the salary due to their 2019 first-round pick nor the free take of Enes Kanter, which is in the final year of his contract.
The maximum contract expected for next season for a player with 7 to 9 years of service is $ 32.7 million and $ 38.15 million for a player with more than 10 years of service.
The Knicks will have to make at least one other transaction to reduce their salary commitments for 2019-20 in order to be able to sign a contract with a free agent.
The club had hoped to trade Noah without having to get a lot of salary, which would have brought them closer to the cap for a maximum free agent.
Since last February, the Knicks general manager, Scott Perry, had tried to move Noah, but he had been cautiously reluctant to include the necessary resources – a good young player or a future first-round pick – to make Noah's deal acceptable for another team.
Noah will become an unrestricted free agent and will be available to potential teams after waivers are lifted early next week. The Timberwolves showed no interest in signing Noah, League sources said.
In addition to Noah, the Knicks also gave up Jeff Coby and Kadeem Allen on Saturday.
Noah and the Knicks broke up in February following his heated discussion with former coach Jeff Hornacek. The relationship intensified after Noah and Hornacek were separated during a training session on the west coast in late January. Noah became vociferous towards Hornacek as a result of a brief appearance in a Jan. 23 match and hired the coach verbally into practice the next day.
In the end, this turned out to be the conclusion of Noah's brief tenure with the Knicks.
The former Knicks president, Phil Jackson, signed a four-year, $ 72 million deal with Noah in July 2016, in the hope that it could serve as a Anchor to the defense of New York.
Noah, a star twice for the The Chicago Bulls and Defensive Player of the Year 2014 have never had an impact with New York. He played 46 games during the 2016-17 season, wasting time due to various injuries and an arthroscopic left knee surgery.
In February 2017, the NBA suspended Noah 20 games for taking a banned substance – a suspension that cost him the first 12 games of the 2017-18 season.
Noah averaged 5.0 points and 8.8 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game in his first season in New York. He averaged 1.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.7 minutes in seven games in the 2017-18 season.
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