Joakim Noah’s season is likely over. The Chicago Bulls’ center suffered a dislocated shoulder in the team’s game against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. The injury occurred to the same shoulder that Noah had had issues with earlier this season. On Saturday, the team announced that Noah will need surgery and will be out four to six months with the new injury, meaning that he will likely be unable to return this season.
Noah’s injury opens up more playing time for a gluttony of big-men in Chicago. Most notably, rookie Bobby Porties will benefit in getting more minutes to build on an already solid start to his career. Nikola Mirotic will also likely slip back to his more natural power forward position after having been played at the small forward position for a stretch. Coach Fred Hoiberg, whom Noah is reportedly upset with due to his new role, will lose a coach on the floor in Noah’s absence but his job in creating rotations for all of his big-men will get slightly easier.
The injury comes on the heels of a churning rumor mill surrounding the veteran center. Noah, a career-long Bull, has been rumored to be on the trading block for a long stretch of this season. Due to his unhappiness with his role, the emergence of young big-men paired with Noah’s own regression, and Noah’s expiring contract made for a perfect storm of reasons to trade the vet. However, with Noah unlikely to play again this season, there is very little chance any team will trade for him. It is still possible for a team looking to unload contracts to accept Noah and some sort of asset, but the likelihood of that happening has now dropped a ton.
Despite all of that, however, Noah who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, may have played his final game as a Chicago Bull.
