Knicks News: Jeff Hornacek 'Not Sure' How Joakim Noah Situation Will Be Resolved

New York Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said he isn't certain how Joakim Noah's contractual situation and impasse with the organization will be solved.

"I'm not sure," Hornacek told reporters. "In the summer, Scott [Perry] and Steve [Mills] will be talking with him. I guess that's how it will get resolved."

Noah, 33, has been away from the team since a January verbal altercation with Hornacek. The 2014 Defensive Player of the Year has been out of the rotation all season, appearing in just seven games and playing 40 total minutes.

The four-year, $72 million contract Noah signed in 2016 has been among the worst in basketball from the moment the ink dried. He went through an injury-plagued 2016-17 season that saw him play just 46 games, and he returned for this year excluded from the team's long-term plans.

Enes Kanter and Kyle O'Quinn have taken up a majority of the minutes at center, and Kristaps Porzingis played the position for stretches before suffering a torn ACL in early February. It's possible Noah would receive more playing time if it weren't for his falling out with Hornacek, which happened the day after a Jan. 23 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Noah said a 20-game suspension for a violation of the league's drug policy, which cost him the first 12 contests of 2017-18, was ultimately a "blessing."

Noah told reporters in December:

"I feel great. I think that extra time [from the suspension] was a blessing. I could really focus on my body. The suspension also put things in perspective for me. I had to change some things in my life, get organized.

"I've always been a team guy. That's never going to change. That's who I am. I support all my teammates. It's not about my situation.

"I made my mistakes. [With] my injuries [and] everything, I'm coming from the bottom. I'm OK—I feel good, I feel healthy. And whenever my number is called, I'm ready."

The Knicks could buy Noah out and then use the stretch provision, which would allow them to spread the nearly $38 million remaining on his deal over the next five seasons. Or, given its rebuilding stature, the organization could choose to swallow the pill over the next two years for financial freedom starting in 2020.