Stop.
Please stop.
I’m begging you.
Derrick Rose isn’t going to play again this season. We know this. Yet people still feel the need to ask because, well, he’s Derrick Rose. And when the Chicago Bulls took on the Indiana Pacers Monday night, someone asked, per The Associated Press (via ESPN):
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was asked if there was a chance Rose could return for the playoffs. “No,” he said. “He’s doing a little bit more, he’s coming along (and) doing some things in practice. But he’s out for the year.”
I get it. People have to ask. It’s their job. This is Derrick Rose we’re talking about, this is Derrick Rose who I’m writing about. People have to know, even if they already know.
But let’s make a deal moving forward: Stop asking.
Rose isn’t going to return this season. The Bulls aren’t that stupid. Playing without him paves way for a magical run that yours truly once thought would turn into a tank job without Rose.
Think about it: What do Rose and the Bulls have to gain by him coming back in the time for the playoffs, when he’ll be rusty and presumably struggling just as much, if not more than he did when he went down earlier this year?
Nothing. They have everything to lose.
The Bulls are already at a disadvantage in free agency. Rose’s future status is unknown. Stars may not flock to Chicago if they don’t know how he will perform, even though Joakim Noah is a beast. If Rose comes back and plays bad or even average basketball, the Bulls are at a bigger disadvantage.
Mystery can be sold. The unknown can be valuable when it may include a healthy superstar. Finding out said superstar is still battling to get back to form ruins that mystique. By not playing, Rose is actually protecting his outside value more than he would be while trying to play.
If that doesn’t do it for you, consider Russell Westbrook.
Do the Bulls and Rose want a scare like he just had? Nope, not at all. Scares turn into out tragedies for Rose. Risking further injury just so he can have a less-than-the-real-Derrick-Rose impact doesn’t bode well for him or Chicago.
Just as they did last season, the Bulls are doing this right, taking extra precautions with their fragile franchise star. The team is using top-flight defense to stay relevant without him, so it’s not necessary for him to return, even if he could.
Were his presence to be the difference between winning a championship and an early playoff exit, then it becomes a different story. But it’s not. Rose isn’t going to be Rose upon return. Rose wasn’t Rose after he returned this season. He was still rounding out his game, trying to figure it all out.
And that’s what he will do once again next season, early in the year, as opposed to jeopardizing both his future and the Bulls’ postseason ceiling now.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
