Joakim Noah Trade Rumors: Latest News, Rumors and Speculation on Bulls Center
As the Chicago Bulls look to find answers for their recent struggles, the front office is reportedly open to moving Joakim Noah for scoring help.
Continue for updates.
Noah Reportedly Unhappy in Chicago
Wednesday, Jan. 13
"Noah remains unhappy with his current standing in the organization, and 'still hasn’t moved past losing his starting job' late in training camp," reported Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday, citing a source. Cowley continued:
"The source went onto say that Noah 'hasn’t been a distraction by any means, but isn’t the biggest [coach Fred] Hoiberg fan these days.'
[...]
Privately, the Bulls have hoped that winning games would cure a lot of Noah’s woes, but that hasn’t necessarily been the case. It also didn’t help that the Bulls went 7-2 without Noah during a recent shoulder injury, and that he’s been the subject of trade talk.
As far as Hoiberg was concerned, Noah’s been very accepting of his new role, and was even taking pride in the fact of how the second unit has been coming together this season.
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Bulls Open to Moving Noah
Wednesday, Dec. 23
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, speaking on his podcast (via SB Nation's Blog a Bull), the Bulls are "determined" to add a wing player in a trade package involving Noah or Taj Gibson.
Examining Noah's Trade Value
Wojnarowski added in the podcast that the Bulls want to shape their roster to be a "more of an offensive-minded group," which certainly isn't Noah's strength.
The 30-year-old developed a cult following over the years for his intense play and physical defense, but age and injuries have taken their toll on him since the start of 2014-15.
Noah is averaging a career-low 4.5 points per game and shooting just 40.7 percent from the field. He's been used off the bench virtually all season.
His defense is solid, with Basketball-Reference.com crediting him with 1.2 defensive win shares through 25 games, but the Bulls rank 27th in offensive efficiency and can't continue to give minutes to an offensive liability with Derrick Rose also struggling to find his shooting touch.
There has already been some tension boiling over with the Bulls, who have lost three straight games. Jimmy Butler has been critical of his teammates and head coach Fred Hoiberg, so the front office may be looking to make a move before things completely fall apart.
Combine Noah's offensive decline with the fact that he's in the final year of his deal, and it's difficult to imagine there is a burgeoning market for his skills that will bring a major player back. His expiring contract is enticing, but there has to be a limit to what a team will pay to get cap relief next summer.
