Joakim Noah, C
Maybe the most notable former Bulls player on this list, the former Florida Gators star big man Joakim Noah, could be getting very close to retirement this year. In fact, if there’s no one that Noah signs with down the stretch this season, it’s very likely that he will hang up the basketball shoes for good following the end of this 2020-21 campaign.
Noah played under the current Bulls head coach Donovan during his college days in Gainesville with the Gators. And while it looks like it could be a good move for the Bulls to reunite Donovan and Noah, there would be flaws with the idea. Noah obviously isn’t the same player he used to be, and there’s a lot of attrition going on in the frontcourt rotation at the moment.
The last team that Noah played for was the Los Angeles Clippers, mostly in the bubble, last season. He signed a deal with the Clippers to fill avoid in the frontcourt rotation for them down the stretch. But Noah didn’t wind up signing anywhere last offseason after remaining pretty productive in the playing time he did get with the Clippers last season.
Noah is a two-time All-Star selection, three-time All-Defensive Team selection, and the 2013-14 Defensive Player of the Year. He still offers a good bit of value if he were to be signed at any point down the stretch this year.
The Bulls do feel like a viable landing spot for the former Gator Noah. It’s just a matter of what Karnisovas and Eversley feel about hitting the free agent market to get veteran frontcourt help that they would get by signing someone like Noah.