Joakim Noah hopes to return to Bulls next season

Joakim Noah is out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a shoulder injury, and that means that it's fair to wonder whether his playing days in Chicago might be finished. 

Even when healthy this season, Noah's role was diminished under first-year head coach Fred Hoiberg, who chose to bring him off the bench for the first time in years. And, Noah will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, when plenty of teams who could use his fiery frontcourt presence will be bidding for his services.

But Noah has played all nine of his NBA seasons in Chicago, and at least at the moment, hopes to return to the Bulls next season. 

"I hope so," Noah said (via ESPN), when asked if it was goal to return to the team next year. "Right now I'm not trying to focus on the future. I just had season-ending surgery last week. But this is all I know. So I'm looking forward to see what the guys are doing, and right now it's just all about taking a step back and just focusing on getting healthy, and then we'll go from there."

It's way too early to tell if that will be a realistic option for either side. A lot will depend on how the Bulls do in the playoffs without him, and what types of offers Noah receives on the open market this summer.

But at least for now, he seems to be saying all the right things.