NBA trade rumor mills are buzzing about the possibility of Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah reuniting with his former Florida Gators coach Billy Donovan at Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 30-year-old eight-year pro was recently relegated to the bench by new coach Fred Hoiberg in favor of the Spanish duo of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic. This has led to a lot of speculations about Noah's unhappiness with the Bulls.

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It was reported before that Noah actually volunteered to come off the bench with Taj Gibson because he allegedly "plays better" with him than with either Gasol or Mirotic.

However, a Yahoo Sports article by Kelly Dwyer noted that Noah denied "coming up with the idea" to be the Bulls' backup center. The two-time All-Star claims that he only said he would "do what's best for the team" and had never said he would like to "come off the bench." However, he admits that being paired with Gasol in the starting lineup has not brought out the best in him.

Meanwhile, in another recent interview, the 2014 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner acknowledged that Donovan was "the best coach" he has ever had, according to  ESPN. Noah even mentioned that he looks up to the 50-year-old mentor as a "father figure".

He added that the new OKC Thunder head coach is "somebody that I've gone through a lot with" and that his college stint with the Gators and Donovan "was the best time of my life and it was a lot more than just basketball".

These words have prompted a lot of rumors that Noah is hoping to join Durant and company out in the West to reunite with his former mentor.

A RealGm trade tracker showed that OKC could give Dion Waiters, Nick Collison, and Anthony Morrow for Noah, although there is no telling if the Bulls would approve to such a deal.

TagsNBA 2015, NBA news, NBA News 2015, NBA rumors, NBA Rumors 2015, NBA News & Rumors, NBA News & Rumors 2015, Chicago Bulls rumors, Chicago Bulls rumors 2015, Joakim Noah, Billy Donovan