Joakim Noah approached Fred Hoiberg about a role on the bench

In the lead up to the 2015-16 NBA season, there was a lot of talk about the Chicago Bulls and whether former All-Star Joakim Noah would accept his new role as a reserve after being the team's starting center for his entire career.

Prior to Chicago's blowout win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, first-year head coach Fred Hoiberg discussed the Noah situation with Grantland's Zach Lowe:

"Jo actually came to me and talked to me about that. He said, basically, “I’ve always played well with Taj.” He said he thought Niko and Pau played very well together, so let’s go that route. It was actually Jo that started the whole conversation. He came to me. That says a lot about him."

From a micro perspective, this move has not paid off a great deal for Noah through two games. He's averaging about 17 minutes of action and has failed to score a single point. Though, the two-time All-Star has put up 15 rebounds, six assists and three steals in those two games.

As it relates to how the switch has worked for Chicago, it seems to have gone swimmingly.

At 2-0 on the year, the Bulls have looked sharp early on. Taking over for Noah in the lineup, second-year big man Nikola Mirotic is averaging 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in those two games. This comes on the heels of a rookie campaign that saw the former Euroleague star struggle a great deal.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the long haul, but it seems to be working extremely well for the Bulls early in the year. At the very least, we now know there won't be any locker room issues with Noah taking a backseat to Mirotic.

Check out Vincent's other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL