Joakim Noah has suffered all season long but his energy and rough plays have certainly helped beef up the intangibles for the Chicago Bulls.
Noah was first sidelined back in December after injuring the same shoulder against the Brooklyn Nets. He suffered a small tear at the time and was forced into the sidelines.
Rookie Bobby Portis was called up on to fill in the void and, as it turned out, was more than fit for the job. At that point, the Bulls were in sort of a dilemma since they had to choose on whether to bench Portis or Noah.
But it seems that Bulls got an unlikely resolve on the matter when Noah re-injured his shoulder against the Dallas Mavericks recently.
It was the same shoulder but based on the facial expression of Noah, the latest setback wasn't looking good.
NBA.com affirmed that fear, reporting that Noah had suffered a dislocated shoulder which means the veteran center-forward will be out of action between four to six months. To cut it short, the season ends for Noah.
Noah is set to undergo surgery for the injury but the more intriguing part is what the future holds for the scrappy NBA vet. He is set to become a free agent after this season and trade talks involving him and teammate Taj Gibson have been in the air for some time now.
Portis' emergence has complicated things a bit and from the looks of it, Noah could be dealt or signed up by another ball club.
But re-signing with the Bulls seems 50–50 at the stage. Aside from Portis stepping up, it seems obvious that Noah has struggled under Fred Hoiberg's system.
If Noah is up and about in six months, he could likely be fit to return in the offseason. But the question now is whether he will still be doing that in Chicago.
