The New York Knicks have been a team stuck in a downward spiral for the past several seasons. Despite getting past all the Carmelo Anthony trade rumors, the team is nowhere near the success they'd hoped for with their new additions to the roster this season. Now there has been more bad NBA news for the team and its fans. On Saturday, it was reported that New York Knicks' forward and center Joakim Noah has been suspended for 20 games. Noah received the ban due to a violation of the league's substance abuse policy for his use of a banned supplement.

The specific supplement was not named as of this report.

Noah's suspension terms

Joakim Noah won't officially begin this 20-game suspension until he's able to play again. The Knicks big man has been out since February 4th. On the 27th, he had arthroscopic surgery to remove loose fragments of bone or cartilage from his left knee. He'll now wait to begin serving his NBA ban once he is "eligible and physically able to play" again.

That means the suspension will officially start as soon as Noah returns from surgery recovery and plays in either a regular season or postseason game. Should the suspension start towards the end of the season, it will carry over into the 2017-18 NBA season.

Noah is playing in his first season with the team after spending the first part of his career with the Chicago Bulls.

He came over via a trade that sent Robin Lopez and other players to Chicago, and joined his former teammate, Derrick Rose, as new members of a Knicks team still stuck at a subpar level.

Knicks' standings & draft outlook

New York is currently on the outside looking in for the Eastern Conference playoff chase. As of this report, the Knicks are 27-45 and third in the Atlantic Division.

The team is currently eight games behind the Miami Heat for the No. 8 spot in the East, but other teams are ahead of them including the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons, and Noah's former team, the Bulls.

Most likely, the team has given up on any notion of making the postseason. They'll look to add more talent in the upcoming 2017 NBA Draft this summer.

Current mock draft speculation has New York selecting at the No. 7 spot and potentially taking North Carolina State freshman point guard Dennis Smith.

That could mean Smith becomes a backup to Derrick Rose, although rumors have suggested Rose could be on the way out as a free agent. The Knicks are also speculated to have the No. 58 draft pick and would possibly take Vanderbilt senior power forward Luke Kornet to bolster their lineup.

The big questions will now be how much of the current Knicks roster will stay for the 2017-18 NBA season as Rose, Noah, and longtime star Carmelo Anthony could all be headed elsewhere in favor of a complete rebuild for the team.
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