He’s one of the guys (along with Derrick Rose and Luol Deng) that the Bulls kept selling to free agents as an important part of their future, part of their core.
So the Bulls had better lock up Joakim Noah to a longer term deal. And, according to Noah, via ESPNChicago.com, those talks are already underway.
Noah said his agent, Donald Dell, has already started discussing the parameters of a deal with Bulls general manager Gar Forman and the 25-year-old is confident the parties can work something out in the near future.
“Of course that’s the goal,” he told ESPNChicago.com after a charity event for his Noah’s Arc Foundation in Queens on Friday night. “I’m not really worried about it. I think everything’s going to happen with time and at the end of the day, I’m really excited about the upcoming season.”
Noah is in the fourth year of his rookie deal; he will make $3.1 million this season, then would be a restricted free agent next summer.
The Bulls selling Noah as part of their future has to have driven up his price. Probably not as high as Rose, however, who should get a max or near-max deal next summer (under whatever the terms of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement are).