CHICAGO -- Jimmy Butler reclined comfortably in front of his locker late Monday night after the Chicago Bulls' impressive 110-90 comeback victory over the Denver Nuggets. Sam Hunt's country music blared from the speakers in his stall and he patiently fielded questions from a small group of reporters. Butler had just polished off the best game of the young preseason, going off for 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, pulling down six rebounds and dishing out two assists.

As contract-extension talks linger ahead of an Oct. 31 deadline to get such deals done, Butler wore the look of a relaxed man as he spoke. He knows how much money is on the line, and he knows how important this preseason is for him and his teammates, but the Bulls swingman is trying not to let all the talk about his future go to his head.

"I'm from Tomball, [Texas]," Butler said. "I'm not even supposed to be in the NBA, let alone be a star player. I just want to be wanted. I just want to play hard. I just want to help win. End of story. Star player, role player, bench player, whatever it takes. Just let me win."

Butler's attitude reflects the exact type of player coach Tom Thibodeau wants on his team -- the type of guy who will do whatever it takes each night. That's why Butler's attitude toward Thibodeau's recent frustration regarding his team's play has been so interesting. In the past three preseason games, Butler has been the Bulls' most consistent player. While Thibodeau rants about his team's preparation and performance, Butler has been the voice saying everything would be OK.

But even after the Bulls came back from a 21-point, first-half deficit, Thibodeau seemed hell-bent on turning positives back into building blocks. Even as Butler appears to be taking the next step in his game, Thibodeau, as usual, is left wanting more.

"Jimmy's playing really well," Thibodeau said. "He came into camp in great shape. He's practicing extremely well. I'm pleased, very pleased with him offensively. Defensively, he's been good, but we all know he's capable of being great. I'm expecting him to set the tone for us defensively. He's one of our team leaders. We need to get an edge. We don't have an edge right now."

Thibodeau is expecting Butler to bring that edge each night this season, just as Luol Deng did before him. While Thibodeau continues to push Butler for more, his teammates can tell the 25-year-old has come in more focused than ever this season.

"Jimmy's been playing really well this preseason," Bulls forward Pau Gasol said. "It's been fun to play with him these few games, and I look forward to play more with him because he's a guy with a lot of potential. Very, very active, very athletic, powerful in his position, been shooting the ball well. Very complete. It's been fun so far."

The issue for Thibodeau is that, while Butler continues his solid play, the rest of his teammates are having problems putting great sequences together. Bulls center Joakim Noah knows the rust Thibodeau has talked about throughout the preseason isn't off yet.

"I think we're working to knock it off, that's for sure," Noah said. "I think everybody's working hard. I think the mindset is good, and, yeah, there's definitely rust."

As Noah spoke, he caught a glimpse of Butler, who was headed to the shower.

"Jimmy doesn't have any rust. I'll tell you that," Noah said, as Butler inquired about what he was saying. "No rust. No rust for the Jimbo."

Butler's play has caught a lot of people's attention early in the preseason. He's more aggressive on both ends and looks as if he is more comfortable in the offense. While the rest of his team searches for an identity, Butler seems to have found his.

"I think there's a lot more to come," Butler said. "Still a lot that we can get better on, as you can probably tell from Thibs' reactions in the first half. But that's what practice is for, that's what film is for, so we're going to get back to it."

That's exactly what Thibodeau wants to hear. In a season filled with expectations, it's been Butler who is exceeding them more than anyone else right now.