Salmons believe Bulls should aim for top 4 seed

John Salmons saw his teammates for the first time in nearly a week on Friday. The veteran shooting guard skipped the London trip because his wife, Taniesha, is due to give birth to the couple's second child soon. As of Friday afternoon, they were still waiting.

"You just never know," Salmons said. "I really want to be there and you're never sure when it's going to happen."

The Salmons have a 16-month-old son, Josiah, and are expecting a daughter.

After watching his teammates beat Utah without him, Salmons also said he feels good about the Bulls' prospects this season.

"I feel like we have a lot of weapons," he said. "I think our goal should be to finish no lower than fourth in the East."

The Bulls were 41-41 and the No. 7 seed last season.

Noah feels for rooks: Joakim Noah had plenty of issues with completing his rookie tasks two years ago, so he's trying to go easy on this year's first-year Bulls, James Johnson and Taj Gibson.

"It would be hypocritical on my part to ask a lot of the rookies," Noah said with laugh. "One of the rookies (Johnson, no doubt) reminds me a lot of me when I was a rookie.

"Brad (Miller) and (Jannero) Pargo, they are tough vets. I had some softer vets (Ben Wallace, Adrian Griffin), but they definitely took my per diem a couple times."

Rose still out: Derrick Rose (sore right ankle and Achilles tendon) sat out Friday's practice and most likely will not play against the Milwaukee Bucks in Green Bay on Saturday.

Tyrus Thomas (bruised hip) participated in most of practice and might play against Milwaukee.

Bulls visit Water Tower: Bulls players will greet fans and pass out pocket schedules at Water Tower Place on Monday beginning at 3:15 p.m. The adidas store on Level 4 will have some special offers in conjunction with the event.