Before we start, let me just put this out there: Robin Lopez is never going to be Joakim Noah.
Beyond being one of the great defenders of the last decade, Noah was the heart and soul for one of the all-time fun Bulls squads — the Thibodeau Bulls — pouring nine years’ worth of blood, sweat, tears and knee cartilage into the Bulls and the city of Chicago.
In one of his more sensible transactions this summer, general manager Gar Forman provided the Bulls with the Pierce Brosnan to Noah’s Sean Connery: a solid, if unspectacular replacement who on the surface gives you 70 percent of the Peak Noah experience, but lacks any of his substance.