NBA Twitter has had a lot of fun mocking Tom Thibodeau and the Minnesota Timberwolves for getting the old Bulls band back together — Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Derrick Rose, and now Luol Deng are all reunited with Thibodeau in Minnesota.
Thibs when he plays Deng over Wiggins pic.twitter.com/mf4zdXpdkq
— Bisaillonbball (@rimgrazers) September 10, 2018
"Even if Deng plays every minute of every game this season, he'll still only have averaged 24 minutes per game over the past TWO seasons" - Thibs, probably
— Mason Ginsberg (@MasonGinsberg) September 10, 2018
And of course, there is one piece missing — Joakim Noah.
He has to complete the set soon! LOL RT @fastbreakbreak @ShamsCharania
— Double L must Rock The Bells (@LoveThePuck) September 10, 2018
Thibs is so close he can taste it pic.twitter.com/N65JNIQeOk
The Knicks are expected to reach a buyout/waive-and-stretch with Noah fairly soon, a deal similar to what the Lakers did with Deng to free up cap space for next season. The Knicks want to go big in the 2019 free agent market.
So Thibodeau is going to complete the TimberBulls collection, right? Apparently not. Marc Stein of the New York Times threw a wet blanket on that Wednesday.
Even the Wolves acknowledge hearing the "Timberbulls" chatter … but word is they have no current plans to pursue Joakim Noah should Noah part ways with the Knicks in the near future as expected https://t.co/0ZyE1xFn3M
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 12, 2018
So much for the jokes.
A few teams could bring Noah in for a workout, but his game was in serious decline when Phil Jackson signed him to that deal, at this point good luck finding scouts around the league who think Noah can contribute much. Noah may be able to land a deal overseas, but it’s hard to picture an NBA contract in his future.
