The Chicago Bulls lost Sunday to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the team now has at least one reason to be cheerful: Derrick Rose will likely return this week. Even better, Rose said he expects his transition from the sideline to the court to be smoother than it was with any of his previous knee injuries.
Rose was cleared for full-contact practice last week, and he appears on track to return before the start of the playoffs. According to what Rose told ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters, he will likely return as earlier as this week.
"He's not sure," Salters said Sunday during the Bulls-Cavaliers broadcast. "They're discussing it with the doctors, the front office, the coaches. But he told me likely sometime this week."
Real GM, which also reported Rose would "probably" return this week, quoted Rose as saying his return this season should be smoother than any of his previous returns.
"If anything, I'm just trying to get my mental (approach) together so when I come back it won't be like my previous times," Rose said. "I think I was away from the game too long (during) previous injuries, and with me missing five, six, seven weeks now, I think that my return is about to be (smoother)."
Rose told reporters last week he'd likely return one to two weeks after being cleared for full-contact practice. The earliest Rose could return is on Wednesday, when the Bulls visit the Orlando Magic. Chicago then travels to Miami on Thursday before returning home on Saturday to play the Philadelphia 76ers.
It's uncertain what - if any - minutes-restriction will be imposed on him.
Rose's return this season isn't the only uncertainty surrounding him. His future with Chicago came into question late last week when a report indicated Chicago would "love" to trade him, if given the opportunity.
"They would love to trade him," Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times told Bleacher Report on Wednesday. "The problem is there's no buyer, (no team is) going take that contract with a guy with three knee surgeries since 2012. He's got two more years after this season."
Rose's contract - $41.4 million over the next two seasons - and the questions surrounding his knees make it unlikely Chicago finds a suitor for Rose, assuming Cowley's report is accurate. Cowley went on to say he predicted a "messy" split between Rose and the team when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July 2017.
