Oh No-ah

On Wednesday, Jimmy Butler was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the third straight year, but few seem to care.  That's because earlier in the day, a report came out that Joakim Noah had told his teammates he was done with the Bulls, citing "no trust in the front office getting this in the right direction" according to a player.  Later, a second report said Noah and the Bulls were having "positive dialogue" about him re-signing once he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.  Whatever the case may be, both sides have their work cut out for them.

While Noah's play has steadily declined since winning the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year Award and he even had this past year end prematurely with a shoulder injury, many aren't ready to say goodbye to him.  For some time now, he's been the emotional leader in the locker room.  Away from basketball, the always outspoken Rev. Michael Pfleger lamented the potential loss of Noah in the fight against city violence.  His Noah's Arc Foundation has done great things for the city and hopefully, a departure wouldn't mean the foundation disappears from Chicago altogether.

This is also a sign of the times for Noah and the Bulls.  The disconnect between Noah and the powers that be seemed clear from the beginning of the past season.  One of the first signs was when Fred Hoiberg said Noah voluntarily took himself out of the starting lineup, a claim Noah vehemently denied.  While the player-coach relationship began mending before his season-ending injury, that between Noah and Gar Forman, a Hoiberg ally who reportedly had to deal with Tom Thibodeau instilling an "us against them" mentality on his players before he dismissed him, hasn't recovered.

Another big reason Noah reportedly is fed up with Chicago is Butler, who attempted to seize leadership last season to the chagrin of Noah and others.  If you read the link to the Pfleger story, you'll find Butler being described as "arrogant" and "having a really big head."  A team that was supposed to contend for a championship cannot find itself with a roster power struggle.  Otherwise, you get what the Bulls just experienced.

While I've discussed this point to death by now, what you're seeing is how long and how far the Bulls have to go to return to respectability.  When you have key players looking for ways out, you have problems.  When K.C. Johnson, arguably the most levelheaded Bulls reporter around, is advocating the team trade either Butler or Derrick Rose, you have really big problems.  The question is what's it going to take for a culture change that not only advocates winning, but unity?