Bulls notes

Before the game Thursday night against the Cavaliers, Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro was unsure whether he’d play Tyrus Thomas, who arrived at the team hotel less than four hours before tipoff. ‘‘I want to see how he warms up before the game,’’ Del Negro said. ‘‘I talked to him. I know he’s been very, very sick, as sick as he’s ever been, he said. I want to see how he feels warming up, and we’ll go from there. I don’t think he’s feeling great. I appreciate the effort of getting here. Let’s see how he feels, and if he can give us a few minutes, that’ll be great.’’

Rookie Taj Gibson started at power forward, and Thomas entered the game with 2:50 left in the first quarter.

Thomas said he was feeling much better Thursday. He said he decided to fly to Cleveland after being examined by a Bulls physician in the morning. ‘‘I went to see [Kathy] Weber,’’ he said. ‘‘She released me. She told me I was cool.’’ When asked before the game if he expected to play, Thomas said, ‘‘I’m here to support the team, however it is. Cheer, play, whatever. That’s what I’m here for.’’ He played 12� minutes and had six points on 3-for-6 shooting. He had one block and one rebound.

With the Cavs playing in New York tonight, LeBron James was asked if he was ready for the barrage of questions from the New York media concerning his future plans. His contract is up after this season, and James can become an unrestricted free agent. The Knicks have cleared a ton of room under the salary cap to make a run at him. All James will say about his future is he’s leaving his options open.

With the Bulls in town, someone asked him if he ever thought about playing for them. ‘‘I’ve thought about playing everywhere,’’ he said. ‘‘Every team in the NBA, I’ve thought about playing for at one time in my life.’’