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Phil Jackson, Steve Mills, Jeff Hornacek, and Clarence Gaines are eating dinner with Joakim Noah at a resort in Orlando as I type this sentence:
Phil Jackson and Steve Mills have arrived at posh resort in Disney to see Noah pic.twitter.com/5CmliDAHzW
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) July 1, 2016
We have every reason (a hat) to believe Noah will join the Knicks. We just don't know the contract details -- nothing new has emerged since 21 hours ago, when every reporter heard something about a fully guaranteed, 4-year, $72ish million deal. Perhaps when the meal is done, there will be a real verbal agreement on some actual numbers. Perhaps that will remain undecided because the Knicks have some other maths at hand.
Nothing's done yet but NYK's told people they expect to have around $11 million avail after Noah. More: https://t.co/VzxiejdCb4
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 2, 2016
($11 million is less leftover than would expect with a $72/4 deal, no?)
Worth noting: this doesn't necessarily mean $19 million per year for Noah. They may have $ budgeted in for others. https://t.co/WEI0TS7cXQ
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 2, 2016
Oh.
Anyway, maths. One math is an offer of indeterminate size made to Courtney Lee:
ESPN sources say the Knicks have made a four-year offer to Courtney Lee, but Lee has a variety of suitors and is working through the options
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 2, 2016
Another is the possibility of making an offer to Eric Gordon, who is apparently talking to the Grizzlies as well:
Eric Gordon expected to finalize a deal tonight, down to New York and Memphis, source says.
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) July 1, 2016
Sources: Free agent guard Eric Gordon finished meeting with Memphis hierarchy within the hour. More conversations w/ Knicks on tap too.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 2, 2016
Memphis, meanwhile, only has an $8+ million chunk of cap space left but I'm told they're trying to make sufficient room to land Eric Gordon
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 2, 2016
I don't know what you need to do, Grizzlies, but I'd be cool with you figuring that out. Shit, if you wanna dump Tony Allen's expiring contract in New York and tack a pick on with it, I wouldn't be mad.
Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade is either using the Knicks for leverage for the 15th time, as Ramona Shelburne seems to be suggesting:
Dwyane Wade is in contract talks with the Knicks & Bucks and could schedule meetings next week, sources told ESPN.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 1, 2016
Said a source close to Wade, "He wants to be compensated for his pay cuts" https://t.co/5u5yWzP20H
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 1, 2016
Here's the thing about the Dwyane Wade-Knicks notion: even the Knicks acknowledge that they don't have enough $$ to satisfy his desires.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 1, 2016
... or hey, who knows, maybe this is the time Pat Riley and Wade finally break. Given everyone else they've pursued, I'm sure the Knicks (and Carmelo Anthony) want the guy. But yeah, the money thing. Woj does not include New York among the teams offering Wade $20 million a year since, you know, they can't if they want to sign Noah.
And there's Austin Rivers:
Austin Rivers has meetings set with New York and Portland, per source.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 1, 2016
Hi Austin Rivers. I ... uh ... hi.
(Meanwhile, the Blazers just added Evan Turner and are reportedly pursuing Pau Gasol. Are they definitely gonna match an offer sheet on Allen Crabbe? I'm just asking. Would he be of interest if not, or do the Knicks only want guys who've had some surgeries?)
What I bet is that at some point -- perhaps very soon tonight -- a couple Knicks deals are gonna break at once. Whatever deals those are, they're pretty much guaranteed to look quite huge compared to what's already on the roster (or been shed from the roster). That's how it is this summer. We'll let you know!