Knicks president Steve Mills divorced himself from any responsibility of signing Joakim Noah to a four-year, $72 million deal — arguably the worst free-agent signing in Knicks history.
Noah, waived in a stretch provision late in training camp, compounded his disastrous stint further by saying last week he partied and drank too much as a Knick. Noah’s altercation last January with ex-Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek was the final straw as he was banished from the team.
“Obviously I’m disappointed it worked out the way it worked out,” Mills said. “I don’t know that, had it been just my decision, I don’t know that I would have signed him.”
Mills was GM at the time of Noah’s signing in the summer of 2016. Phil Jackson was president, and as previously reported here, top adviser Clarence Gaines Jr. pushed for the Noah deal most.
Noting Noah’s recent remarks about partying too much as a Knick, Mills said their decision not to want him back on the club is justified. Noah recently signed with Memphis and will make his return to the Garden on Feb. 3.
“There was a reason why we thought that this was the best thing for the culture and the environment of our team,” Mills said. “When the speculation was why don’t we handle Joakim one way and we decided to handle it a different way, there was a reason why we handled it the way we decided to handle it.”
The Post reported during Noah’s banishment last season he wasn’t seen as having a strong influence on young players. He had been with Kristaps Porzingis in the wee hours on Bourbon Street after the Knicks had landed from a loss in San Antonio. A source said Frank Ntilikina, though they share the French language, was encouraged not to hang with Noah either.
Ntilikina’s shooting slump continued as he went scoreless in 14 minutes, shooting 0-for-2 with two turnovers in Friday’s 114-107 loss to the Hawks. Mills said confidence has been an issue for Ntilikina, who is shooting 6-for-27 in his past five games.
“Frank is a young, young player,’’ Mills said. “There are a lot of things that he continues to get better at from a defensive standpoint. We’ve got to find a way to work with Frank and allow the confidence on the offensive end of the floor to sort of live within him all the time. It’s there sometimes, it’s not there other times. But that’s what we feel like our job is as a management team. We sit around and say we have to pour confidence into these guys.”
Coach David Fizdale sounded like he regretted sitting Trey Burke for a second-straight game. Burke, after missing five games with a sprained knee, played two poor games and was benched. Fizdale said he debated bringing in Burke on Friday, but wanted to see if Ntilikina could give the Knicks a defensive spark and hold down the Hawks’ Trae Young late.
Rookie Mitchell Robinson (ankle) missed a fourth straight game and rookie Allonzo Trier (hamstring) a fifth. Both could be back Christmas Day against the Bucks. … After a collision with Joel Embiid caused a swollen nose and black eye, center Luke Kornet wore a face mask Friday and scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting in 11 minutes. … Mario Hezonja also did not play.