The Bernstein Brief: What Do Teams Think Joakim Noah Has Left?
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) First came the report Friday from Mitch Lawrence of the Sporting News that the Washington Wizards were pursuing Joakim Noah, preparing to offer him a full maximum deal that would start at $26.6 million and pay him close to $120 million over four years.
Then it was Marc Berman of the New York Post writing Saturday that Noah was also the top target of the Knicks, forcing us to wonder if Bulls games have been available at all for consumption on the East Coast for the last two seasons.
Noah isn't only coming off of surgery to repair a season-ending shoulder dislocation, but he continues to play on a knee missing a significant amount of cartilage. It has limited his effectiveness considerably, reducing an all-star energy player to a guy who can't run the floor, jump or cover lateral ground quickly enough to make up for his inability to score.
This has been painfully obvious for some time, ever since what was thought to be a minor surgical procedure in the spring of 2014 turned out to be -- in Noah's own words -- "more than a scope." In 29 games before being sidelined for good in 2015-'16, Noah averaged 4.3 points on 38 percent shooting and added 8.8 rebounds.
NBA teams may have crazy new money to spend, but throwing that much of it at a 31-year-old who now may only be sporadically effective just wouldn't seem to make sense. While teams can tantalize themselves by fixating on the "if healthy" possibilities for Noah's restoration, we likely would have seen that already if it were going to happen.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
