Joakim Noah: ‘I wasn’t expecting to play such a limited role’
Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, like several fading players on his team, is in the middle of a rough season. Banished to the bench in a move that rookie Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg attempted to not only make sound like promotion, but also a mutually agreed-upon decision, he has struggled to score and finish around the basket. Noah clearly has yet to recovery from the “minor procedure” on his left knee that the Bulls tried to cop to from 20 months ago.
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In the last year of his contract, Noah has been involved in trade rumors since the outset of 2015-16. The Bulls franchise are usually loath to pull off midseason deals unless it saves the team’s ownership group money, and it’s unclear what sort of return the team would get on a struggling (soon-to-be) 31-year old that has also missed time with a bum left shoulder.
Stuck at loggerheads, yet starting against a terrible 76ers team on Wednesday, Noah (kind of) came clean about his frustrating season on Tuesday evening, following the team’s third straight loss. From the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson:
“I mean, I don’t know what to say. I wasn’t expecting to play such a limited role,” Noah said. “I’m trying to stay focused on what I can do to help. That’s it.
“It’s not about complaining. It’s about trying to find solutions. I want to be part of solutions and try to help figure it out.”
[…]
“I want to play all the time. I think any competitor does. I’ve said that all along,” Noah said. “But this (role) won’t change my commitment to the team. I’ve never been about anything but winning and the team.
“I’m blessed to play this game for a living. Before the (shoulder) injury, I felt I was finding a rhythm. I just need to get back to that. I feel like I will.”
Johnson pointed out that at three different points in the interview Noah apologized for not articulating his frustrations in a way that satisfied him, but these remarks seem rather sufficient.
Joakim is averaging 4.3 points on 38 percent shooting with 8.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 22 minutes a game. The passing and rebounding marks (his rebounding rate is a career high) are stellar, and his Player Efficiency Rating (which doesn’t even take into account his sound defense) is around the average rate, but his presence on the court is often a detriment to these Bulls.
Noah has good marks with certain shooters on the floor, but by and large teams have learned to sag off of him when he’s perched at the high post or setting screens, or welcome passes to him when Joakim is around the rim. He shoots 43 percent around that rim and makes just one in five shots from 3-to-10 feet, unacceptable marks for any NBA position player, let alone a 6-11 center.
In a league that is getting smaller and smaller, the Bulls have a litany of big men. Noah and Pau Gasol are in the final years of their contracts, while forward Taj Gibson (the team’s second best player this year, even while recovering from yet another Chicago Bulls-styled “NOTHING IS WRONG HERE MOVE ALONG NOTHING TO SEE”-ankle surgery) has a contract that expires in 2017.
Second year forward Nikola Mirotic, in a baffling decision by a coaching staff that has apparently ignored both game tape and basic advanced analytics from this year and last, has been once again miscast as a small forward. Rookie Bobby Portis has defensive issues both on and off the ball, but it’s clear that he’s quite possibly the steal of the draft and deserves significant minutes. The frontcourt is loaded with talent, and also question marks.
Fred Hoiberg has made many mistakes in his rookie year, but his on-court usage of Joakim is not an example of such. Noah’s position, in a vacuum, seems ideal. He can come off the bench to spell Gibson or Gasol (who weirdly, at age 35, routinely plays full first quarters despite showing signs of fatigue), act as a screen setter for players like Doug McDermott and Aaron Brooks, all while anchoring the defense and ending possessions on the defensive boards.
The issue with that is that the off-paper ideal isn’t working. His splits look terrible on the paper and the odd three-pointer for McDermott just doesn’t seem worth all the other trouble.
Joakim acknowledged the trade rumors on Tuesday, saying he “doesn’t really have much of a choice” but to soldier on despite them, but due to his iffy play and Chicago’s trading history Noah is likely to have to deal with these whispers until the Feb. 18 trade deadline.
His expiring $13 million contract isn’t unreasonable to deal for, but Chicago wouldn’t want any lingering veteran contracts back in return, and they’d want draft considerations. Noah was an All-Star and top-five MVP candidate just two years ago, but Chicago is unlikely to receive a significant rotation player in return unless some other general manager screws up. The word on Noah is out, sadly.
And, again, the Bulls don’t like to trade much. The team dealt Luol Deng two years ago around this time of the season, but only because they could take in immediate payroll savings, while pointing to what likely will be two future second round draft picks as the bounty received.
This is the group that swears that Mike Dunleavy Jr. is actually going to play basketball this year, thinks that Doug McDermott is the future answer at small forward even though he can’t beat out a subpar-shooting power forward for starters minutes at the position. Whatever surgery Noah underwent in May of 2014 clearly ruined his career, and yet the franchise called it a “minor” operation.
They’re not exactly dealing from a position of strength.
Joakim Noah is correct in the assertion that he was playing his best basketball of the season before going down with the shoulder injury, but the Bulls also had their best stretch of the season with him on the shelf. His rebounding and passing skills have looked as impressive as ever upon his return to action, but the Bulls have dropped two games they should have won with Noah back in the rotation, as he’s missed nine of ten shots.
It’s not working. And even if the Bulls had the temerity to make a trade, who would line up to act as partner?
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
