Chicago Bulls’ point guard Derrick Rose won Rookie of the Year back in the 2008-2009 season. He went to three straight NBA All-Star games from 2010-2012 and he was named the NBA MVP in 2011. Since then, Rose has had two season-ending injuries. The former 1st overall pick out of Memphis hasn’t played a game since November 22nd of 2013. He had surgery on the meniscus in his right knee on November 25th, which should rule him out for the rest of the season. Then Rose made an interesting comment on Thursday about his status for this season:
“If I’m healthy and the situation is right, I’m going to be back playing,” he said at his first press conference since the injury. (Credit: ESPNChicago.com)
The Bulls ruled Rose out for the whole season, but the injured point guard said that he might return in time for the playoffs. If the NBA season ended today, the Bulls would be the six seed in the Eastern Conference. Should Rose risk another injury by returning for the playoffs, where it gets more physically demanding? I think the Bulls are in an interesting situation here. Rose has had a great young career. He’s only 25 and he has accomplised so much at such an early age. But should Rose keep playing for the Bulls? At this rate, Chicago is paying a man that hasn’t been playing that much in the last two years. Sure he’s a great talent, but how are you going to win an NBA championship without a top point guard? The NBA draft is going to produce some great point guards this year. There’s Marcus Smart from Oklahoma State (who can also play shooting guard) and there’s also Russ Smith from Louisville (who knows how to win big games). If I was Chicago Bulls’ General Manager Gar Forman, I would give Tom Thibodeau a brand new start. Forman already traded their leading scorer Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers and picked up a bunch of draft picks for it. The Bulls did acquire Andrew Bynum in the trade (great, another injury prone player to add to the roster), but how long will that help the team? Bynum may be a young and talented player, but he is also on the downward spiral of his career. Forman doesn’t believe in rebuilding a team and hey, with a successful franchise like the Chicago Bulls, I don’t blame him. But he does have to think about the future here. Even if Rose does come back, how productive would he be after two knee injuries? I would trade Derrick Rose for a 1st round draft pick to a team like the Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, or even the Los Angeles Lakers (who knows how many years Steve Nash has left in him). Those three teams could produce a good draft pick, so you may not land Marcus Smart or Russ Smith, but you can still get someone pretty good. If it were up to me, I would move on in Chicago. You already gave up your third-best player in Luol Deng and you can’t rely heavily on Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer. Build a younger team that Thibodeau can coach and the Bulls should be championship contenders about two years from now.
The Basket Foot 