Bulls Center Joakim Noah Wants Out of Chicago

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Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Bulls center Joakim Noah has been telling his teammates that he’s done with the organization and plans to make his exit via free agency this offseason. That’s very bad news for a Bulls team that has struggled to live up to the expectations set early on in the Derek Rose era.

According to the unnamed player, Noah’s desire to exit has nothing to do with tensions between he and first-year coach Fred Hoiberg, who stripped him of his starting job early in the season. Despite a icy start, relations between Noah and Hoiberg have been thawing in recent months.

The issue actually centers around general manager Gar Forman, who has rubbed more players than just Noah the wrong way. Per Cowley’s report:

“…there seems to be a complete mistrust multiple players have toward general manager Gar Forman, with Noah leading that charge.

According to the player, former coach Tom Thibodeau was always able to shield the players from the front office, having them buy into the idea that it was ‘us against them.’”

Neither Noah nor anyone within the Bulls organization has commented on the report, which marks a very drastic change in tone from just a few months ago when both parties expressed a desire to get a deal done.

Now it seems the only done deal is Noah’s departure.