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Luol Deng believes he can overcome torn ligaments in wrist

Chicago Bulls All-Star forward Luol Deng says he isn't feeling any pain in the left wrist the bothered him during the 2011-12 season, so at this point he's confident in his decision to forgo offseason surgery.

Eric P. Mull-US PRESSWIRE

Chicago Bulls All-Star forward Luol Deng opted to forgo surgery on torn ligaments in his left wrist during the offseason so that he could play in the 2012 Olympics for Great Britain, and at this point he says he's not feeling any pain and he hasn't had to go visit any doctors regarding the wrist. The torn ligaments plagued Deng last year, as he posted his lowest field goal percentage of his career and his lowest true shooting percentage since his rookie season -- he still earned All-Star honors and played 54 of 66 games.

Deng decided to play in the Olympics and then assess the situation at the end of the summer. He elected to avoid surgery and stick to his rehab. He recently told ESPN the decision has paid off so far:

"I stuck with my rehab, kept doing my rehab, and til now kept doing my rehab and staying on top of it. It's been good so far. I just got to continue with that and see how it goes."

"I haven't had any pain on it so I haven't really gone back to the doctors or anything," he said. "They would ask me how it feels and I would let them know. But if I have anything where it's troubling me I'll go and get it (looked at) and get treatment on it."

The Bulls need to fill a huge void with Derrick Rose still on the shelf at the start of the season, so Deng's wrist will be put to the test very early in the season. As everyone knows, Tom Thibodeau doesn't like to take things slowly with his best players.