Joakim Noah on knee: 'Every day I feel better and better'

After Derrick Rose’s health, the single-most important question facing the Bulls is that of Joakim Noah’s, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this offseason.

Noah would rather talk about how nice it is to live in Cleveland than his knee surgery, but he did acknowledge progress regarding his comeback.

“I feel a lot better today than I did two weeks ago, so that’s always a positive,” he said following Wednesday’s practice. “Just making sure the swelling’s down, it’s just a lot of rehab. It’s boring. It’s boring stuff. You just gotta stay on top of it and be patient and I’m sure it’ll come back to where I want it to be.”

Tom Thibodeau said that although Noah’s rehab has been long, he thinks his timing is starting to come around. His preseason numbers won’t jump out (5.6 points, 4.6 rebounds in less than 20 minutes) but he’s playing a new role in the offense while still getting back into playing shape.

“He had an incredible season last year, he really did,” Thibodeau said. “He had the surgery this summer and it’s been a long rehab for him, so I think he’s starting to feel better now. … Timing is such a big part of his game. I think it’s starting to come. You can see he’s reading the ball well again, I think he’s starting to rebound the ball better in practice.”

Knee surgery aside, Noah is adjusting to a brand new role within the offense. Last year the majority of the offense went through him atop the key, which explains his ridiculous 5.4 assists per game. Now that Derrick Rose is back and the Bulls have added a proven interior scorer in Pau Gasol, Noah isn’t the primary offensive initiator.

He’ll find his points in between offensive boards and his mobility, but he doesn’t need to score often. Rather, he needs to clean up the glass and create havoc on defense. He can only do that if he has confidence in his surgically repaired knee.

Having already missed the second night of one preseason back-to-back as a precaution, the Bulls are taking it slowly with him. It’s unlikely Noah will get close to the 35 minutes per game he played last season. As he said on Wednesday, he and Thibodeau will “see how I feel, take it day by day.”

But in case he ever gets discouraged, all he needs to do is consider what Derrick Rose, the victim of two brutal leg injuries, went through.

“I just know how much work he put in,” Noah said. “And I appreciate that as a teammate. … A lot of guys, when they get hurt, they leave the team. They’re not around. He was around the whole time, for two years. … I’m fortunate enough. I feel like I’m in a rehab kind of state right now. But I think I’ll be back. I’m feeling good. Every day I feel better and better.”