Tom Thibodeau gets extension

The Chicago Bulls and coach Tom Thibodeau agreed on a four-year contract extension, the team announced on Monday.

The deal is "very close" to the reported $18 million deal Scott Brooks signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder over the summer, a source familiar with the situation told ESPNChicago.com's Melissa Isaacson. The four years are on top of the option year the Bulls picked up on Thibodeau for the 2012-13 season.

"Obviously, I'm very excited to be here and very thankful to (owner) Jerry (Reinsdorf) and to (executive vice president) John (Paxson) and (general manager) Gar (Forman) and certainly all our players and our fans," Thibodeau said on Monday during the team's media day. "I love being here, I never doubted it would work out. This is where I want to be. Jerry has been great to me from the day I arrived."

Reports surfaced last season that Thibodeau was unhappy he did not have an extension secured. Forman then appeared on "The Carmen, Jurko & Harry Show" on ESPN 1000 and stated that talks had begun before last season and would resume after the season.

Forman repeatedly stated that it was the organization's intention to lock up Thibodeau for the long term, even though talks stalled earlier in the summer. But a source told ESPNChicago.com that talks resumed in early September.

Thibodeau said he wasn't worried about a deal getting done after a conversation he had with Reinsdorf last season.

"I knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of when," Thibodeau said on "Carmen, Jurko & Harry" on ESPN 1000. "I felt good about it from the middle of last season. Basically Jerry had called me up and said 'Look, we'll get this done at some point.' He's a man of his word and everything that he has said he has done so I felt good about it."

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