Chicago Bulls PF Taj Gibson not thinking about possible contract extension

Chicago Bulls power forward Taj Gibson is up for a contract extension at the end of the season, and despite his stellar play as a member of Chicago's vaunted second unit, there's doubt as to whether the Bulls will be able to re-sign him. Gibson told reporters on Tuesday, though, that those issues are not at the forefront of his mind.

"When you're in this situation, a lot of people are more focused on it than you. You just have to let it slide off your shoulders. Joakim [Noah] was talking about to me about it a couple of days ago, but I always just shrug it off. I really don't even think about it," he continued. "When you think about it, it kind of takes you away from the basketball aspect of it. But you really can't do anything about it, except worry about what you can take care of and that's the court work. Your agent and the GM has to worry about that."

(via CSN Chicago)

The Bulls let Gibson's parter-in-crime Omer Asik walk after last season, and further trimmed salary by trading Kyle Korver and allowing C.J. Watson and John Lucas III to leave. All of those moves, though, may have been in anticipation of offering Gibson a long-term contract extension.

Last season, Gibson averaged 7.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in just over 20 minutes per game. He upped his field goal percentage to 49.5 percent and is also considered to be one of the top defenders in the NBA. He will lead a revamped second unit in Chicago in 2012, which features new faces down low like Nazr Mohammed and Kyrylo Fesenko.