Looks like Bulls are stuck with Rose now
While I wrote Friday that the Chicago Bulls should consider trading Derrick Rose at the end of the year for a first-round pick in the NBA draft, it is a moot point now.
Rose underwent surgery Monday to repair a torn medial meniscus in his right knee and is out for the rest of the season.
We all know players can return from this type of surgery, but how effective are they and for how long?
Some circles in Chicago contend I was reveling in the fact I called for him to be traded before he got hurt, but that's not the case. I just sensed from watching him on the court that he wasn't going to be the same player he was before he had ACL surgery on his left knee.
It's difficult and almost impossible to trade damaged goods, so it appears Bulls fans are stuck with D-Rose through thick and thin.
Many had him pegged as the MVP this year, and I even predicted they would be the only real competition for the Miami Heat.
While some people now say it just proves he did the right thing by not playing earlier, I disagree.
If he had come back gradually last year, maybe he wouldn't have been so tentative this year and he would have played more confidently.
Other players have come back earlier than Rose did, but I believe he was unsure mentally and he was thinking instead of reacting once he came back this year. Maybe if he had played 5 to 10 minutes a game last year when he was cleared by the Bulls it would have helped build his confidence.
Where will his confidence level be now?
Hey, I ‘m a Bulls fan, and I hope he comes back and is the player he once was. He could be Chicago's next Gale Sayers, who came back from a serious knee injury in 1968 and led the NFL in rushing at 4.4 yards a carry in his last relevant year, 1969.
Rose now has to fight back and work hard to come back strong. He has plenty of support from his teammates who have backed him 100 percent, but John Paxson, the team's vice president of Basketball Operations, just might need to hire a team psychiatrist.
Portland is the land of broken knees with guys such as Sam Bowie, Brandon Roy, Bill Walton and Greg Oden, and D-Rose suffered his knee injury against the Blazers at the Moda Center (the former Rose Garden) as he started to run down court.
Maybe the Bulls will end up with one of the top college players in the lottery, but I doubt this was the plan. I think it could be considered one of the worst contracts in sports unless you're D-Rose.
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