Fantasy owners may expect a huge campaign from Bulls center Joakim Noah this season, seeing as how he’s healthy once again and entering a contract year. His value might take a hit, however, from recent comments by new coach Fred Hoiberg about how he may be used.
Hoiberg discussed the ability to trot out multiple, effective lineups on any given night. Chicago has a glut of big men; Noah will be joined by Taj Gibso, Pau Gasol, rookie Bobby Portis, and stretch-four Nikola Mirotic. Hoiberg said throughout the season players will be asked to make sacrifices for the good of the team. That can be interpreted as him saying he will ride the hot hand at times, and no big man should expect guaranteed time on the floor.
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When asked specifically about using Noah, who has battled myriad injuries, off the bench, Hoiberg didn’t assure Noah has a starting spot. “We’ll see what happens,” Hoiberg said.
“It doesn't matter to me who starts it, it's who ends it. And that's the progression that you have throughout the course of the season where you figure all those things out because we do, we've got a lot of guys that have the ability to play a lot of minutes. Especially in our frontline.” Hoiberg said he fully expects Noah to be one of the players finishing games.
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Those comments may be troubling to fantasy basketball owners with Noah in their sights. Noah has never been an offensive powerhouse, but his field goal percentage has dipped every year since 2011, and he averaged just 7.2 points last season. His rebounding dipped to fewer than 10 a night for the first time since the 2011-12 season, and his minutes fell too.
All of those negative trends figure to stick with so many capable bodies in Hoiberg’s rotation. Per FantasyPros.com, there is a wide gap regarding expectations for him. Yahoo has him ranked No. 31 among centers, while CBS has him all the way up at No. 11.
Noah’s the best rebounding big man of the Bulls’ group, and he is the best post defender. While he doesn’t score much, and his jump shot is as ugly as it gets, he succeeds at scraping together dirty work points off rebounds, and he’s a capable facilitator from the post.
Don’t be scared of rumors he will come off the bench. That is highly unlikely, and even if he did, the minutes will be there.
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