Here we go again, only less so.
Derrick Rose left during the fourth quarter of the Chicago Bulls’ 96-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night with what his team called a left ankle sprain, per ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell:
Bulls PR says Derrick Rose is out for the game because of a left ankle sprain.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) November 17, 2015
Ben Golliver of SI.com provided video of the injury:
Bulls' Derrick Rose leaves game after tweaking left ankle pic.twitter.com/7zE2cVU49u
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) November 17, 2015
Derrick Rose has missed one game thus far this season due to an orbital bone fracture. He’s now wearing a mask indefinitely, and there’s a chance the double vision from which he suffers as a result could last months.
So, you know, another injury isn’t ideal.
Fortunately for the Bulls, Rose is expected to be fine immediately, per SportsNet Chicago’s Chuck Garfien:
Just spoke with a Bulls official. He's "pretty sure" Derrick Rose won't miss any games.
— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) November 17, 2015
Well, that’s good news.
Or at least it’s news.
It’s sadistic to wish that a player misses time due to injury, and I’m not about to do that. But Rose hasn’t exactly been helping the Bulls, so news of his continued presence cannot be seen as this profound silver ling.
Through 10 appearances, Rose is shooting under 40 percent from the floor, his three-point shot in worse shape than ever. His assist rate (30.4) is good, even for a point guard, but the Bulls are actually statistically better on both sides of the floor when he doesn’t play, according to Basketball-Reference.
That’s the problem the Bulls are facing moving forward. And it’s one without an answer.
On the one hand, Rose isn’t helping them, so it might not hurt to experiment with some different lineups and rotations that don’t feature him.
On the other hand, the Bulls don’t have a ton of options at point guard, nor do they have the means to acquire one. Unless some team is interested in giving up a starting-caliber floor general for one of Chicago’s bigs—most notably Joakim Noah or Taj Gibson—they have no choice but to hope that Rose can somehow be Rose again.
