Joakim Noah needs rotator cuff surgery, will miss 4-6 months

Well-compensated Knicks center Joakim Noah hasn’t played for a long time, and won’t play again for an even longer period of time.

According to the Vertical, Noah needs surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. Just to be clear — dude has had a lot of setbacks this season — this is not the injury which has sidelined him since February. That was the result of arthroscopic knee surgery. Doctors finally cleared Noah a few weeks ago...which allowed him to serve out 8 games out of the 20-game suspension he earned for taking a banned substance.

So we can tack 12 games onto however much time Noah needs to heal up from this shoulder procedure. Or maybe he will wait even longer, if Ian Begley’s sources are to be believed:

League sources says Joakim Noah is still evaluating his options at this point but surgery is the most likely outcome to repair his rotator cuff injury. Nothing has been decided yet. Noah's right shoulder is ailing him. Surgery would keep him out for at least three months.

Whatever. This might be a more pressing concern if the Knicks weren’t currently in possession of two young studs capable of manning the center position in Kristaps Porzingis and Willy Hernangomez. My biggest concern is that this will convince Phil Jackson not to pursue trades for Kyle O’Quinn.

So please get well soon, Joakim. Until then...

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