Joakim Noah says it wasn't his idea to come off the bench
Fred Hoiberg's first major move as head coach of the Chicago Bulls is a controversial one.
The decision to swap out Joakim Noah for Nikola Mirotic in the starting lineup certainly made sense, but the move didn't exactly please Noah, as ESPN's Nick Friedell relays.
Noah is a proud player. He wants his team to win. But he didn't want to come off the bench, especially in a contract year. He wants to play.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) October 30, 2015
Noah's latest comments somewhat contrasts the spin put on by Hoiberg, who explained to Grantland's Zach Lowe that Noah came to him about the idea of reuniting with Taj Gibson - presumably on the bench.
However, on Friday, Noah explained that he was fine with the decision because there was too much redundancy in a pairing with Pau Gasol.
Noah: "The truth is I think I'm more effective playing the 5. And Pau is the same. And we have two very good 4s. So this makes sense."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 30, 2015
Putting aside the confusion over the origin of the idea, the early returns on the lineup change have been positive. The Bulls are 2-0 with wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets and Mirotic has certainly played a large part in the team's success, averaging 19.5 points and nine rebounds in the two contests.
Keeping Noah happy, however, is also important. Not only is he their frontcourt defender, but Noah has also been a fixture in Chicago for the past nine seasons. While he's fine with the move because he has the Bulls' best interests in mind, Noah is also an impending free agent coming off a down year. If the Bulls continue to play him under 20 minutes per game (he's at 17.5 per game on the season), they would be asking Noah to make a tremendous sacrifice.