DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Luol Deng's left wrist has improved, but the Chicago Bulls forward said Monday that it will be an issue he has to deal with all season.

“The wrist is the wrist,” Deng said Monday at Bulls media day. “It is what it is. I expect to be asked about it all year. I just have to go out and play and do what I can do, whether it’s one arm, two arms or no arms. I’m going to be the best I can be.”

Deng said it was a “tough decision” to forego surgery on the wrist, which he hurt in January, citing his desire to play in the Olympics for Great Britain. He said it was the right decision as the wrist has been getting stronger throughout the offseason.

“It’s a lot different (now),” Deng said. “If it was the same as last year I would have gone ahead and done the surgery. It just kept improving. During the Olympics it was a lot better than it was at the end of the (season). I can do a lot more things than I was able to do.”

But it’s still not 100 percent which means surgery isn’t necessarily out of the question. It just won’t happen anytime soon.

“If I wake up tomorrow and I need the wrist surgery I’ll let you guys know,” Deng joked. “I didn’t want to have surgery and miss a lot of games. I’m at a point of my career I want to play in every game. I had a hard time to make that decision to have the surgery and miss that time.”

The Bulls were weary of his situation going into the offseason but seem pleased the wrist has responded.

“He kept us updated all last spring,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He was feeling a lot better. He did a lot of things to strengthen his wrist, and he was very optimistic prior to the Olympics where he felt he wouldn’t need the surgery.”