After witnessing the Chicago Bulls' underwhelming 2015-16 campaign firsthand, team owner Jerry Reinsdorf was more than ready to move on from Joakim Noah when free agency opened this summer.
"We felt Joakim wasn't going to be a frontline guy anymore," Reinsdorf told The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson. "I was pretty confident that Pau (Gasol) was going to leave. So it was important for us to get the center in (Robin) Lopez.
While Reinsdorf didn't see a future for Noah in a Bulls uniform, he's happy his former franchise center collected the money he did. Noah inked a four-year, $72-million deal with the New York Knicks - an annual raise of nearly $5 million.
With three starters gone from last year's team, Reinsdorf is cautiously optimistic about the Bulls' chances heading into the 2016-17 season, believing the ability to beat anyone could make the Bulls a dangerous club.
"We're going to be competitive," Reinsdorf said. "I'm not predicting anything. But remember, as bad as we were last year, we beat Cleveland three out of four and Toronto four out of four."
After missing out on the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, Reinsdorf will hope his newest additions will be enough to vault the Bulls back into the postseason.
