Noah better after knee surgery

One Bulls topic that should have been addressed on media day - but wasn't in much depth - was the state of Joakim Noah's injured knee.

He never complained about it last season, but the team issued a short release on May 2 confirming that the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year had a minor arthroscopic procedure on his left knee.

On Monday, Noah wanted to keep the details sparse.

"I felt terrible at the end of the year," he said with a smile. "And I feel better now."

Apparently, he's doing OK and won't be limited during training camp. But that's subject to change.

"We went through a week of limited practice, 3-on-3 type stuff. He handled that well," said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.

"But again, he hasn't really played this summer, so I want to see what he looks like taking contact. He says he feels great. I guess we have to see once he gets out there and starts practicing and he's banging against some big bodies."

Noah did open up a little bit about what it was like this summer doing more rehab than anything else.

"A lot more boring stuff. But the boring stuff is important," he said. "Having knee surgery is very real, especially when you're jumping and playing basketball every day. It's a very grueling sport. I had knee surgery and now it's part of my life. I have to do a lot of strengthening and activation and a lot of flexibility. Not that I wasn't doing that before. It's just being a little bit more conscious of your body. ... I'll be ready."

McDermott gets a taste:

Bulls rookie Doug McDermott didn't get much of a chance to work with Tom Thibodeau this summer, since the coach was working with Team USA. But he got a crash course this past week inside the new Advocate Center.

"It's been kind of intense and a good preview of what we're going to see," McDermott said Monday.

But was it the toughest workout of his life?

"Yeah. A lot of closeouts, a lot of defensive stuff," he said. "I don't think he (Thibodeau) gets credit for how good an offensive coach he is either. I think he has some good sets, some good stuff for us."

Butler talks are on:

Bulls general manager Gar Forman gave a brief update on contract talks with Jimmy Butler. The two sides have until Oct. 31 to agree on an extension, or else Butler will become a restricted free agent next summer.

"We value Jimmy, and Jimmy is an important player to us," Forman said. "We've had conversations and we'll continue to have conversations. The deadline still is the end of October.

"Obviously, we don't talk about specifics of negotiations. But it is something we're talking about now."