Joakim Noah and his coach have oddly different versions of why the NBA star now comes off the bench

Chicago Bulls new head coach made a surprising shake-up to start the season by bringing center Joakim Noah off the bench.

While the move was surprising, it made some sense - Noah and Pau Gasol were somewhat awkward fits last year, and the Bulls could get more spacing by playing Gasol at center and Nikola Mirotic at power forward.

The Bulls are 2-0 to start the season, and the decision to remove Noah from the starting lineup has largely looked okay.

After the Bulls season-opening win against the Cavaliers, Hoiberg spoke to Grantland's Zach Lowe about the change to the starting lineup and suggested it was actually Noah's decision:

Lowe: How was the conversation when you told Joakim he officially wasn't going to start?

Hoiberg: "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."

Lowe: Were you already leaning that way anyway - like as early as August or September?

Hoiberg: "I had thought a lot about a lot of different lineups. I hadn't come to any type of conclusion. But it was great of Jo to just come and have that conversation."

This surprised many people, and showed that even if there are concerns about the Mirotic-Gasol pairing defensively, Noah himself thought it was for the better.

Except on Friday at shootaround, Noah told reporters it wasn't his idea:

Fridell added:

Friedell also said that Noah doesn't want to "rock the boat," so he'll accept the new role.

One possible explanation for these two versions of the change that it was Hoiberg's idea, and he told Lowe that it was Noah's idea to make Noah look more unselfish.

However, if Noah is saying it wasn't his idea, then there's little reason to believe he's lying and trying to deflect credit. Like Friedell says, Noah probably wants to start. Noah later said that given the Bulls depth in the front-court and the positional redundancy between him and Gasol, it's a good plan.

While this can't be classified as a disagreement, it does raise some questions. In the first game of the season, the Bulls starting lineup with Mirotic and Gasol was outscored by the Cavs and was giving up a rate of 125 points per 100 possessions. They fared better in a win over the Nets, but the Cavs are a title contender and the Nets are not expected to be juggernauts this season.

Avoiding the Noah-Gasol combination also seems like it's skirting the bigger issue. Who do the Bulls play down the stretch of a close game? Gasol and Mirotic, for the offense, or Noah and Gasol for the defense? While Mirotic-Noah seems to be an even blend, it also takes Gasol, one of the Bulls best scorers, off the floor.

How Hoiberg navigates this issue will be one of the keys to the Bulls season. While it can't even be called a problem yet, it is something under the surface that threatens to become an issue if the Bulls hit a rough patch.