Tom Thibodeau contract: Thibs makes the media rounds, credits Jerry Reinsdorf

Monday was certainly Tom Thibodeau's day to celebrate. Though I doubt he barely even gave himself that much of a pause before immediately getting to work on this coming season.

The newly-papered head coach of the Bulls had three lengthy interviews on Monday:

• Video from NBA.com with Steve Aschburner (who's cool because he retweets my horrible jokes sometimes).
• With Boers and Bernstein on WSCR The Score (uploaded audio here)
  
• With Carmen, Jurko, and Harry on WMVP ESPN1000 (uploaded audio here)

In those interviews, you'll notice a common theme that may be unsettling to some: Jerry Reinsdorf had a huge personal role in this:

I think a lot of it has to do with my relationship with Jerry. He had pretty much assured me after the first year that we were going to work something out. Jerry's always been a man that keeps his word, so I never worried about it.

Reindsorf has had a history of refusing to deal with coach's agents, something Thibs did not deny in the WMVP interview. But if you own that history of meddling, I guess the chairman deserves the credit too: he got this deal done.

There's lots more in those interviews about the adjustments Thibs will be making in practice and on the court with some of his new troops, so check 'em out.

Tom Thibodeau contract: Fourth year of deal reportedly not guaranteed

CSN Chicago's Aggrey Sam dropped an interesting little nugget in his report about Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau's shiny new four-year contract extension:

According to people familiar with the negotiations, discussions were cordial, but the two sides were previously far apart on the agreement; while the Bulls didn't disclose the contract's terms, a source told CSNChicago.com that the fourth and final year of the deal is not guaranteed.

This really doesn't damper my enthusiasm about the deal, as I fully expect Thibs to coach through that fourth year and probably beyond. I'm assuming this stipulation was put in place just in case things did somehow go south.

Video: Gar Forman and Tom Thibodeau on 4-year contract extension

For those who weren't able to catch the live stream of Bulls Media Day on CSNChicago.com, the site has spliced some videos up from it. Here's GM Gar Forman and newly-extended coach Tom Thibodeau talking about the four-year contract:

Tom Thibodeau contract: Coach agrees to 4-year extension with Bulls

Bulls GM Gar Forman and coach Tom Thibodeau opened Media Day in a big way, with the surprise announcement that the two sides had agreed to a four-year contract extension. The extension will kick in next year and run through the 2016-17 season. Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski is here with the specifics:

Thibodeau base salary is closer to $17.5M over four years, sources tell Y! Attainable bonuses can bring deal to $20M over course of deal.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) October 1, 2012

These numbers make perfect sense, as they are right in the ballpark of what Thunder coach Scott Brooks received in his new extension. I think Thibs is a better coach than Brooks and probably deserved a tad more, but nonetheless, this is a very fair deal.

Naturally, Forman and Thibs were thrilled with the announcement. Forman called Thibs "best coach in the NBA," while Thibs expressed his desire to remain in Chicago for a long time:

"I'm thankful to Jerry and Gar and John. I never doubted it would work out. I love being here."

After all the negativity surrounding this offseason, including pessimistic reports about a new Thibs contract, I couldn't be more thrilled with this news. The team has enough questions as it is, and they didn't need unnecessary questions about Thibs' status mucking things up even more. I myself wasn't confident a deal would get done, so major kudos to the organization for getting this thing hammered out.

And this was one hell of a PR move to announce this thing on Media Day.

Tom Thibodeau contract: Nick Friedell reports 'sense of optimism' that deal gets done before season

ESPN Chicago's Nick Friedell is reporting that some people in the Chicago Bulls organization have a "sense of optimism" that a new deal for coach Tom Thibodeau will be reached before the season starts.