Bulls announce Joakim Noah has surgery on left knee

Soon after being eliminated from the 2014 NBA Playoffs, the Chicago Bulls announce that All-Star center Joakim Noah has underwent surgery on his left knee.

"The Chicago Bulls announced today that center Joakim Noah successfully underwent minor arthroscopic surgery to clean out his left knee. The procedure was performed at Rush Oak Park Hospital by Chicago Bulls head team physician Dr. Brian Cole. He is expected to rehab his left knee during the offseason for the next eight to 12 weeks.via MINOR ARTHROSCOPIC SURGERY CLEANS OUT NOAH’S LEFT KNEE | Bulls.com"

When Noah revealed he had been dealing with knee pains as his Chicago Bulls took on the Washington Wizards, it explained why the center looked less like his regular season self. Crowned the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2013-14 season, Noah looked like a shell of himself, failing to contain the likes of NeNe (averaged 17.8 points on 54 FG%) throughout the series. According to NBA Stats, Noah posted a defensive rating of 103.6 opposed to the 97.7 rating posted in the regular season.

Playing in 80 of the 82 available games this season, Noah’s knee issue doesn’t seem like that big an issue as he’ll be ready when training camp, but it makes one wonder if the front office will go into overdrive as this teams window could be reaching an end. Right now, Noah is 29 years old, Taj Gibson is 28 and Derrick Rose, at age 25, isn’t a given to be healthy after missing the last two and a half seasons. Add in the Tom Thibodeau factor where he pushes his players to the maximum night in and night out and it makes these guys a little bit older in basketball years.

There are plenty questions going into the Bulls next season. What Derrick Rose will show up? Will Derrick Rose be healthy? Is Carlos Boozer getting amnestied? Will they sign Carmelo Anthony to a max contract? Etc. Etc. But one given will be the presence of Noah. Hopefully he’s fully healthy by the time October/November rolls around.