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Good news on Rose's latest knee surgery

The Bulls are saying there's a chance - a pretty good one, in fact - Derrick Rose will be back on the floor before the NBA's regular season ends on April 15.

Rose had a surgical procedure Friday morning to remove a portion of the medial meniscus cartilage in his right knee. General manager Gar Forman described the surgery as minor and said the team expects Rose to return to game action in 4 to 6 weeks.

"I'm happy that he's going to be all right," teammate Joakim Noah said at the United Center. "Time will tell. Rehab is no joke. Especially he's been doing it for three years now. It's repetitive, it's very boring. Especially when the games are going on, you want to play."

A four-week return would put Rose back on the court March 27, with nine games remaining in the regular season. Six weeks would mean a return on April 10, with three games left before the playoffs begin.

Whether Rose can make it back in time to turn the Bulls into a formidable playoff opponent remains to be seen. But this much is obvious - their chances are better with him than without him.

"The hope will be that he'll have some time to get some games under his belt (before the playoffs)," Forman said, "we can get the rest of the team in a healthy place and in a rhythm and in good health going into the postseason. If we do that, obviously we like this team."

Rose was diagnosed with a medial meniscus tear in his right knee early this week. It's not clear when the injury happened. He suffered a similar injury on Nov. 22, 2013 during a game at Portland and had season-ending surgery three days later.

Friday's surgery was performed by team doctor Brian Cole, who also did Rose's previous meniscus repair and the ACL surgery on his left knee in May, 2012.

"(Dr. Cole) said surgery was a success," Forman said. "It was arthroscopic, outpatient surgery. So Derrick at this time is full weight bearing. It was a quick procedure and he was able to walk out of the hospital.

"In this case, in comparison to what Derrick had to go through the past several years, this surgery was minor. We're anticipating that the return to play will be in the next 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the rehab process."

Forman expects Rose to begin rehab Saturday at the Advocate Center. By next week, Rose should be able to perform basketball-related activities, such as shooting.

"I talked to Derrick a couple of times earlier this week. I think he's in a really good place and I think he's ready to attack this rehab," Forman said. "I know he's really anxious to get back on the floor with his teammates."

When Rose tore the meniscus last season, the Bulls opted for a full repair of the cartilage with an eye on preserving the long-term health of his knee. This time, the damaged part of the meniscus was removed.

"He was having pain earlier in the week," Forman said. "The way it was explained to me is there was a flap where the tear was. They went in and they shaved that out, that portion that was damaged, and that should relieve the pain. After a short rehab, should be back to where he was.

"This is an injury that's fairly common with NBA players or pro athletes. Most are able to come back to competition and it doesn't really have any effect on their career. In a small percentage of cases, maybe late in their career, they'll complain of pain in regard to arthritis. But at this point, that shouldn't be any concern at all."

Once an athlete tears meniscus cartilage in his knee, it is fairly common to have additional damage down the road. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, Rose's former summer workout partner, is an example of someone who's had multiple arthroscopic knee surgeries and continues to play at a high level.

Rose is averaging 18.4 points and 5.0 assists this season, not bad considering he missed all but 10 games during the past two seasons.

The Bulls, 36-22 heading into Friday's game against Minnesota at the United Center, have a decent chance to earn a top-four playoff seed in the East. As of Friday morning, they were in fourth place, a half-game behind No. 3 Cleveland and 1 ½ games behind No. 2 Toronto. The Bulls are three games ahead of fifth-place Washington.

Gasol out with illness:

Bulls center Pau Gasol is expected to miss Friday's game against Minnesota due to an illness. Taj Gibson is likely to start in his place.

Coach Tom Thibodeau said at Friday's shootaround he planned to start Aaron Brooks at point guard for a second straight game.

Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.

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