The 2015-16 season will be the beginning of a new era for the Chicago Bulls with Tom Thibodeau having been fired and Fred Hoiberg coming in as the new head coach. There has been talk that because the Bulls didn't change their roster much they would tweak lineup combinations in order to get the most out of the guys they do have. One of those possible changes might include Joakim Noah coming off the bench after a down year last season. He is extremely hungry and ready to prove himself again, according to Jon Greenberg of ESPN.
In the 2013-14 season Noah was one of the best players in the league as he received votes for the league MVP award and was named Defensive Player of the Year. Last season Noah was coming off knee surgery but was never able to gain his form and ended up not looking like himself in the 67 games he played in.
Noah, now 30 years old, says that he is healthy heading into next season and despite not knowing what role he will have he is ready to get back to All-Star form.
"I think that last year I wasn't healthy, and I think that I feel like I want to go in healthy, and Fred will do what he wants to do, those aren't things I can control. I just want to go in camp and be as ready as possible and go from there," said Noah.
Noah started last season alongside Pau Gasol, who had a tremendous year, but the combo didn't work as well as many had hoped it would. One of the main reasons is because Noah was hurt and unable to guard power forwards the way he usually would. If Noah is healthy next season he should be able to handle that assignment defensively and the combo should be much better off.
Noah is entering the final season of his five year $60 million deal so this is a huge season for him before he hits the free agent market. Noah knows that he is going to have to come out and prove once again what kind of player he is as last season was not the Joakim Noah we have seen for the majority of his eight year career.
Noah has career averages of 9.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game but his value lies more in his defense, energy and effort that is second to none in the league. Noah has a passion for the game that is palpable through the TV screen so it is a solid bet that he has a bounce back year and achieves his goal of re-establishing himself as a top NBA player.
