Westerlund: 5 Storylines From Bulls Media Day
By Cody Westerlund-
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As one would expect at a season's introduction, the Bulls on Monday flashed their smiles, talked about how excited they are to start a new season, related that the "sky is the limit" if they're healthy and generally sidestepped all questions about a budding rivalry with LeBron James and the Cavaliers by lauding the rest of the Eastern Conference.
It was media day at its finest, the highlight being point guard Derrick Rose saying, "I know I'm going to win a championship soon."
Through the many platitudes, there was some substance of note, too. So here's a look at five storylines as Chicago prepares to open training camp with a two-a-day session Tuesday at the Advocate Center.
Noah still rehabbing knee
Bulls big man Joakim Noah underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in early May, and he hasn't played any full-out, competitive basketball since Chicago was eliminated from the playoffs by Washington in April, general manager Gar Forman said. Since then, it's been all about rehab and what the 29-year-old Noah termed "boring stuff.
So how's he feel?
"I felt terrible at the end of the year, and I feel better now," Noah said simply.
As is his style, Noah didn't talk of the knee injury at the end of last season, nor has he really spoken much about it over the summer. With big man Pau Gasol and forward Nikola Mirotic added to a mix that already included Taj Gibson, it would be wise for the Bulls to reduce Noah's workload this season. He averaged 35.3 minutes last year, the second-most of his career, and by season's end it wore on him.
The Bulls will work Noah back into the mix gradually once practice starts.
"I'm hoping there's no limitations, but I just have to be a little more cautious," Noah said.
"Having knee surgery is very real, especially when you're jumping and playing basketball every day. It's a grueling sport. I had knee surgery. Now it's part of my life. I have to do a lot of strengthening and a lot of activation, a lot of flexibility.
"I just got to deal with it. I'll be ready."
Butler, Bulls talking extension
The Bulls and fourth-year swingman Jimmy Butler are currently talking about a contract extension, Forman confirmed. However, the general manager wouldn't go into any further detail about how far along the sides are in the process or if he expects to reach an agreement prior to the deadline.
Under the CBA, Chicago has until Oct. 31 to sign Butler to an extension. If not, he'll become a restricted agent at season's end.
"We value Jimmy," Forman said. "Jimmy's an important player to us."
Butler's an interesting case study of sorts, as some media members have speculated that he'll receive a near-max offer if he hits the open market after a strong season. Before calling that idea crazy, consider that there are few quality two-way shooting guards in the NBA nowadays. Butler's already one of the best on the defensive end, and he has proved to be a solid finisher when he has a full head of steam and/or others are creating for him.
The problem is he was a really poor shooter last season, with a 28 percent clip behind the arc and 40 percent overall. If he's more of the 38 percent 3-point shooter that he was in 2012-'13, investing good money in him would seem prudent. If he can't regain that shooting touch, a contract of more than $10 million per season would be called overpaying.
Having Rose back in the mix should get Butler more open shots, but the catch is that the Bulls play only one regular-season game before Oct. 31, the night they host the Cavaliers at the United Center in their home opener.
So a decision will have to be made on Butler soon. If the Bulls wait, the risk is that they'd have to overpay next offseason if a foe extends a large offer sheet – or possibly watch a player they like head out the door.
Bulls keep Rose in mind in offseason acquisitions
Despite Rose being injured the past two seasons, he's always on the forefront of the front office's mind. That was reflected in Chicago's offseason additions.
Rose loved the idea of Gasol coming to Chicago, the same of which couldn't be said of the chase to add Carmelo Anthony. Rose was a big reason why the Bulls traded two first-round picks to move up in the June draft and nab sharpshooter Doug McDermott. And adding a stretch four to the team for the first time in Rose's tenure was also the reason Chicago so badly wanted Nikola Mirotic to come over this offseason from Spain.
"There's different ways to break down a defense," Forman said. "Derrick's awfully good at breaking you down off the dribble and finding guys that way, but penetrating passes to the post or high post and having bigs that can make plays with the ball, I think it's a real positive for all our guys."
Because of the added weapons, Rose feels he doesn't have to carry such a load.
"For sure," Rose said when asked if there's less of a burden now. "I'm trying to make the game as simple as possible."
No minutes restrictions in place
Of all the Bulls' weakness, health concerns would rank near the top alongside how quickly the likes of McDermott and Mirotic can contribute and whether Butler regains his shooting touch to help space the floor for an offense that was atrocious last season.
Besides the obvious – Rose always having to answer injury questions – Noah is still recovering slowly but surely and Gasol has been limited to 49 and 60 games, respectively, over the last two seasons because of various ailments.
Despite this, the Bulls don't have any minutes restrictions in place for anyone right now, Forman said. That's always a lightning rod of a topic because of coach Tom Thibodeau's penchant for riding his starters, and a discussion will surely follow in training camp, but Forman downplayed the issue.
"That's something with all our guys that we talk about on a pretty consistent basis, as far as where guys are and where they'll be, especially if there's any type of injury or they're struggling physically," Forman said.
"There's no restrictions at this point."
Evaluating Rose will obviously be a priority, and sitting him on the second night of back-to-backs could still be in the works. Thibodeau wants Rose to play through rust and soreness but not through pain and injury.
"We'll see," Thibodeau said of adding rest to Rose's schedule.
Down low, forward Taj Gibson will play a big role, even more so if the minutes for Noah and Gasol are reduced. Gibson was the team's sixth man last year and said he remains fine with the role.
"It really doesn't matter," Gibson said. "It really doesn't matter. That's how I've always felt. That's how I attack the game. I don't really care. I just go out there and play, whatever minutes I get."
LeBron's return home 'good for basketball'
Directly and indirectly, media members asked the Bulls all afternoon about a budding rivalry with the Cavaliers with superstar James returning to Cleveland, Kevin Love joining him and point guard Kyrie Irving blossoming this summer with Team USA.
Again and again, the Bulls more or less downplayed it all. Thibodeau did so in classic fashion, of course, talking about nearly everyone else in the Eastern Conference after being asked about Cleveland.
"When you look at the East in general, the obvious, and probably rightfully so, is you look at Cleveland when you add James and you add Love and have Kryie and there's a lot of depth," Thibodeau said.
"They're a great team, but you can't overlook a team like Brooklyn gets (Brook) Lopez back, a team like Atlanta gets (Al) Horford back. Charlotte gets (Lance) Stephenson. Everyone's writing off Indiana. It's under the radar, but C.J. Miles and (Rodney) Stuckey are there.
"Miami signs Luol (Deng). Miami hasn't skipped a beat."
One who did shine some light on James' big move was Gibson, who's embracing the challenge and thought it's a terrific storylines.
"I thought it was good for basketball," Gibson said. "It was good for the city of Cleveland. They need that kind of luxury, seeing how when I came into the NBA, I was used to seeing Cleveland always sold out. Over the years, just to see the output of, when you go to the games, it's really not that crowded. The fans, they deserve a winning team, seeing how the city of Cleveland is – they love their sports."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.