Noah's impending return raises questions about his value to Bulls

After a bumpy start that had center Joakim Noah openly questioning their identity, the Chicago Bulls seem to have hit their stride, winning seven of their last nine games to take up the transient mantle of No. 2 in the Eastern Conference.

The resurgence, though, has come entirely without Noah, who missed each of those nine games with a slight tear in his left shoulder. The Bulls expect him back in the lineup for Monday night's game against the Washington Wizards, head coach Fred Hoiberg told ESPN's Nick Friedell.

Given Noah's struggles, and how the Bulls' recent success has coincided with promising rookie Bobby Portis' introduction to the frontcourt rotation, it's questionable whether getting the veteran back will actually be a boon. For now, Hoiberg isn't concerned about the possibility of his team's chemistry getting thrown out of whack.

"I think our guys are in a pretty good place right now," he said. "It's just going out and continuing to do the things that have given us some success recently. We can't go away from what we've done. We've been much better offensively, much more efficient offensively, we have to keep that going. I also think Jo will help with that and hopefully even step it up a notch."

That may be wishful thinking on Hoiberg's part, and his refusal to conflate the Bulls' ascendant offense with Noah's absence is likely a combination of tactfulness and willful ignorance.

Noah remains an impactful (if slightly diminished) interior defender, but he's been a trainwreck at the offensive end, where his broken shot (career-worst 42.8 true shooting percentage) and inability to exploit size mismatches leaves teams free to effectively ignore him.

His falloff has been comprehensive and precipitous. Since undergoing knee surgery in the summer of 2014, Noah hasn't rediscovered the bounce, craftiness, or mobility that made him not only the Defensive Player of the Year but a top-five MVP candidate just two seasons ago. This year, he was bumped from the starting lineup to a reserve role for the first time since 2008, and has done little to prop up the second unit. He failed to crack double-digit scoring in any of his first 19 games.

His absence at the defensive end, while pronounced, has been more than mitigated by the Bulls' rejiggered offensive rotation, which has seen Portis unshackled and Taj Gibson promoted to the starting lineup, while Nikola Mirotic has rediscovered his stroke in extended minutes. It'll be interesting to see how the Bulls work Noah back in, but common sense suggests they do so gradually and cautiously.

In the six games before suffering the shoulder injury, Noah had started to come around, averaging 8.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.5 blocks. Still, Chicago went just 3-3 in those games, including a loss to the lowly Brooklyn Nets and a blowout to the New York Knicks. Roster alchemy is a precarious business, and the Bulls would be wise not to tinker too much with success, at least in the near term.

Hoiberg insisted Saturday that Portis - who's averaged 7.7 points and seven rebounds during Noah's absence - will remain a part of the rotation. But with the frontcourt logjam, it's difficult to see there being enough minutes to go around, especially given how much the Bulls have struggled when Mirotic plays small forward.

All of which is to say, if there's anything resembling a trade market for Noah, who'll be an unrestricted free agent in July, the Bulls should explore it. If there isn't, they may need to make another difficult decision regarding their longtime emotional leader, in a season full of dilemmas.

Noah can certainly still be a positive contributor in a minor, situational role, but for the most part, the Bulls are - and will continue to be - at their best when he's on the sideline.