Derrick Rose is one of the league’s most dynamic young stars, and captured a league MVP award in 2011 in what was just his third NBA season.
But he’s appeared in only 49 games in total since then, which include just 10 last season after missing the 2013 campaign entirely and undergoing two major knee surgeries.
There are legitimate questions surrounding Rose’s durability that will remain until he is able to play the bulk of a season (and postseason) without sustaining yet another devastating injury. But the team doesn’t believe those questions will be a hindrance in recruiting free agents to play alongside him.
From Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago:The Chicago Bulls say they are not concerned about Derrick Rose’s health status being a possible obstacle in any recruiting pitch they might make to prospective free agents in the coming weeks. ...
“Not really,” Thibodeau said during ESPN 1000’s NBA draft show Thursday night. “In the NBA, injuries are part of it. And most guys go through a period in their own career when they’re injured. It’s adversity that you have to get past and get over and most of these guys have done that, so I don’t think that’s going to be a big deal. I think they’re going to see Derrick and they’re going to know that he is healthy.”
Rose is expected to be back fully healthy by the time training camps open, and will be active before then in working out with Chicago’s summer league team before attending USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas in late July.
Injuries can happen to anyone at anytime, of course, and most players realize that. The Bulls have managed to be consistently good even with Rose out of the lineup; adding him back to the mix makes them a championship threat, and the potential of Rose returning to form is going to be more enticing than injury concerns will be a deterrent.
