Derrick Rose on pace to return during regular season

Feb 20, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago Bulls star point guard Derrick Rose is on pace to return to the court from his latest knee injury before the end of the NBA regular season.


Derrick Rose has been a walking injury waiting to happen over the last few years of his career since he went down with a torn ACL in the playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite the disappointment of yet another injury, Rose is confident that he will return to the court before the end of the regular season.

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Instead of simply having his meniscus repaired, he had it trimmed which makes it impossible to have another injury to that meniscus. It will also help him as far as the mental aspect of returning from a knee injury. That being said, Rose sounds very confident about his return and talked to the media about his plans to return this season.

“Oh yeah, I’m not worried about that,” Rose said. “I’m feeling good. I’m trying to do all the right things. Put all the positives in the bag and just try to go with it. It’s something that I’ve been doing for a long time. Rehab is definitely a grind. But I’m getting used to it.”

He also updated his timetable on returning to contact practice, and it sounds like he could make an appearance in the near future.

“Should be sometime this week or next week,” Rose said. “Gotta talk to (Director of Sports Performance) Jen (Swanson) and go from there.”

Needless to say, this is great news for the Bulls and their fans. Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson both just returned from injuries of their own, and it appears that Rose is getting closer to his return as well. Rose is a huge part of what the Bulls do on the offensive side of the basketball, and they need their starting point guard back on the floor.

During the 46 games that he has played this season with the Bulls, Rose averaged 18.4 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game. He was just getting his confidence back under him when he went down with the meniscus injury.

At 26 years old, his body is still healing at a fast pace and he should be back on the court at 100 percent soon. It will be interesting to see how he responds to the latest setback, and whether or not his confidence has wavered at all. No matter what happens, simply having him back on the court is going to be an upgrade for the Bulls.

H/T Chicago Tribune

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