Wolves interested in Joakim Noah, Luol Deng if bought out?

Tom Thibodeau’s mission to turn the Minnesota Timberwolves into Chicago Bulls West may be inching closer to fruition.

Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reported on Saturday that the Wolves will monitor the situations of ex-Bulls Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, who are both buyout candidates. Krawczynski also adds that if they are indeed bought out, Minnesota would “certainly” consider signing one of them to a minimum deal.

Noah and Deng, both 33 years old, are hugely negative assets at this stage of their respective careers and possess two of the absolute worst contracts in the NBA right now. The former is still owed a horrendous $37.8 million over the next two years by the New York Knicks, and the latter is still owed an equally brutal $36.8 million over the next two years by the Los Angeles Lakers.

However, what matters here is that the two former All-Stars used to play in Chicago under Thibodeau, who has brought in an almost laughable number of his former Windy City players to Minnesota (a list that includes Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, and Aaron Brooks). At least one of those players might not be happy to hear this news though.