Chicago Bulls Rumors: Joakim Noah’s Knee Could Be Season-Long Problem

By RantSports Staff on October 23, 2014

Hopes are high for the Chicago Bulls in 2014-15. With Derrick Rose back in action (in theory) and Pau Gasol now on board, some key pieces to the puzzle seem to be in place. But can the Bulls reach their full potential without a 100 percent healthy Joakim Noah?

A new article from PBT tackles the issue of Noah’s health, and specifically the rumors surrounding his surgically repaired knee. One source recently told the Chicago Sun Times that the big man’s left knee will be an issue all season long.

Noah of course had a procedure performed on his knee in May to remove cartilage. Dr. Benjamin Wedro described this type of surgery/injury to PBT:

“The injury can be acute or chronic. In the chronic injury, there is degeneration and wafting away of the cartilage tissue. It is a bigger deal when parts of the remaining cartilage is removed. It may be relatively minor, but there is no such thing as minor surgery. The risk of developing arthritis later in life increases.”

PBT points out that Noah has already played in six of Chicago’s seven preseason games, and that he played a combined 48 minutes in back-to-back games this past Sunday and Monday.

At this point in time, the big man’s knee seems to be holding up just fine. But 82 games from now, who knows?

The key for Tom Thibodeau will be resting Noah whenever possible and keeping the workload on his left knee down. With Gasol now on the roster, that will be much easier to pull off than it was a season ago.

It’s certainly too early to say that the fiery center’s knee is for sure going to be an issue all season. Could it become something that needs constant monitoring down the road? Sure. But given that Noah has essentially been a full participant in the preseason, you have to believe he’s feeling pretty good.