Joakim Noah Extremely Unhappy In Chicago
(Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
Whether injuries, naysayers, front office/coaching staff drama caused distractions throughout the Chicago Bulls organization, there was one constant… Joakim Noah. Noah’s energy excited fans, uplifted teammates, and made coaches better. Now Joakim Noah is unhappy in Chicago.
Sources from the Bulls tell the Chicago Sun-Times Joe Cowley the center’s time in Chicago just might be over.“[Joakim] still hasn’t moved past losing his starting job.”
The source went on to say Jo hasn’t become a distraction, but he’s not exactly the leader he once was in the Bulls lockerroom. “[Noah] hasn’t been a distraction by any means, but isn’t the biggest [coach Fred] Hoiberg fan these days.’’
Noah had always been the guy that had the coach’s back, but without a strong, respected voice backing Fred in the lockerroom, this would certainly mark the end of either Hoiberg or Noah in Chicago.
With Hoiberg being a Gar/Pax guy, from all accounts a yes-man, he’s not leaving — especially after just being hired.
That means Noah is gone, in fact he’s worth more off the Bulls roster at this point than on it.
Joakim is in the last year of a contract that’s paying him $13.5 million, and exporting contracts are gold in the NBA.
While there’s been some chatter about potential landing spots for Noah, the teams that make the most sense are those that plan at making a run at Kevin Durant this offseason. Team’s like the Lakers or the Wizards or the Knicks. While each of those teams are strong financially without a deal for an expiring contract, if they were to move a player or two before the end of this season it allows them to not only compete for Durant, but also another big free agent this offseason.
Subsequently, the Bulls are also creating a fair amount of cap space for themselves as well. While Noah will more than likely leave via a trade or just through free agency, Pau Gasol is also a free agent at the end of the year, as well as Kirk Hinrick and Aaron Brooks. This would clear $26.5 million from the books, and leave the Bulls with only $62.5 million in 2016-17 salary commitments.
While the vast majority of those commitments would be allotted to Derrick Rose ($21.3 M) and Jimmy Butler ($17.5 M) there could be enough room left over for the Bulls to add another significant player to their roster. With the NBA salary cap expected to reach $108 million for the 2017 season, the Bulls could potentially be a big player in the years to come.
With fans growing less and less confident that this current Bulls team can become a championship level team. However, with the expiring contracts of their big name players, coupled with several superstars getting ready to hit the free agent market, and the lofty salary cap expectations, they could rebuild quickly enough to create a championship caliber team.
Whichever the case, it appears that the 17-year curse of the Chicago Bulls franchise is still running strong. Once the team can get over this guy, they’ll be stuck trying to repeat their past.
