Noah likely out for season

The last time the Bulls lost Joakim Noah to a shoulder injury, on Dec. 21, they had three days off to regroup and won seven of their next eight games, beginning with an impressive Christmas Day win at Oklahoma City.

This time, Noah is likely out for the season. Noah dislocated his left shoulder in Friday's loss to Dallas and will have surgery. A date for the procedure has not been set, but the recovery time is expected to be four to six months.

Noah was trying to box out Mavs center JaVale McGee when the injury occurred and Noah headed straight to the locker room with his left arm hanging limp.

"You hate to see it happen to a good person like him," Jimmy Butler said after the game. "He's down, as he should be. This is a game he loves. He wants play for this team."

Bulls fans are already asking if this injury will mark the end of Noah's nine-year run in Chicago. He'll become a free agent this summer.

This was a tough call even before the injury. The Bulls will be looking to retool the roster to create the more fast-paced, outside-shooting model coach Fred Hoiberg would like to play. Noah, 30, has never been much of a scorer, but he should fit into any scheme thanks to his defense, rebounding and passing skills.

The bond between Noah, the city and Bulls fans is strong. He would probably prefer to stay here and the Bulls' marketing department obviously is enamored of his enthusiasm and intensity. The Bulls might welcome the chance to re-sign him at a relatively low price, especially if Pau Gasol opts out of his contract, as expected, and moves on.

This injury also casts doubt on Noah's value in the open market. Just two years ago, he was defensive player of the year, first-team All-NBA and fourth in MVP voting. But last year he was slowed by a sore knee and now this season has been cut short by the shoulder injury.

It's a tough break for Noah, but the Bulls still have plenty of depth, especially among big men. Last time, the hot streak was a matter of the team's top three scorers - Butler, Gasol and Derrick Rose - working well together. The best mix seems to be Butler serving as the go-to scorer, Rose attacking the rim as often as possible and Gasol playing off both of them to get open jumpers.

Health and fatigue seem to be two reasons things fell apart this week. Rose missed the end of the Milwaukee game on Tuesday and then all of Thursday's win at Philadelphia with patellar tendinitis in his left knee. Gasol skipped the trip to Philadelphia to rest shoulder and Achilles tendon injuries.

Coming from a night off, those two were the top scorers against Dallas. Butler was understandably worn down after playing heavy minutes in every leg of four games in five nights. Butler followed up his career-best 53-point performance against the 76ers by scoring just 4 points on Friday.

The Bulls scored a season-low 77 points against Dallas. Hoiberg will have to rethink the playing rotation with Noah sidelined. On Friday, he moved Tony Snell back into the starting lineup at small forward and pushed Nikola Mirotic to the second unit.

Neither player thrived in his new role. A late 3-pointer was Snell's only basket, while Mirotic went 0-for-4 from the field and scored 2 points. Doug McDermott, meanwhile, went scoreless in 21 minutes of action.

Thanks to Noah's injury, the Bulls recalled backup center Cristiano Felicio from the D-League, just two days after he was sent down.

The Bulls (23-16) have another tough week ahead with a Martin Luther King Day matinee in Detroit, followed by Golden State at home on Wednesday and back-to-back road games in Boston and Cleveland next weekend. After that, the Bulls host Miami, then depart for the seven-game ice show road trip.

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