Bulls fans across the world are experiencing deja vu. “With what?” you may ask.
The deja vu is coming from both of Derrick Rose’s knees. In Rose’s left knee is a repaired ACL from when he tore it back in the 2012 Playoffs. In Rose’s right knee is a repaired torn meniscus which he suffered from on Friday, Nov. 22. Everyone knows how long the #TheReturn took and how short lived it was. This makes everyone question: Without Rose for another season, what should the Bulls do?
We all remember how long it took for Rose to come back from his first injury. However, it was an ACL tear, which is a huge injury, but it took a whole season for Rose to return. He sure did take his sweet time, saying that he wasn’t coming back until he was “125%.” Don’t forget all the memes about how someone “returned before D Rose”. Rose’s brother went on a radio station and told the whole Chicago-area when Rose was to return. ESPN showed us videos of Rose dunking in pre-game warm ups. We saw and heard all these different things on how Rose was better than he was before. This led many of us to have very high expectations of Rose and when he came out for the beginning of this season everyone criticized him for his play and how he is not the same player. But Rose is the exact same player as he was before; he just didn’t hit his groove yet. Rose just began to get on his groove right before he tore his meniscus when playing against the Portland Trail Blazers. Rose is said to be out for the whole season, but Rose had been quoted saying that he will try to make it back for the playoffs if the Bulls end up making them. Now all Bulls fans are going do what they did all last year: wait, wait for the #The Return Part 2. And for the Bulls, it is decision time and they have to decide which direction they want to go in.
Well, Bulls fans, I have some different plans that might help the Bulls; some you might like and some you might hate. One plan is just to completely give up on the season and hope for the lottery draft to get another key player that could take pressure off Rose. If the Bulls throw in the towel for this season, you would see many losses and possibly many unhappy Bulls fans who are mad that the Bulls gave up on the season. The Bulls have the Charlotte Bobcats first round draft pick for this upcoming draft. This could help the Bulls to draft some key players or trade these picks and get some players that could help the team. The Bulls need a number two big scorer, like how LeBron has Wade and how Durant has Westbrook. Rose needs a key sidekick that could take some pressure off of Rose. Rose needs a player that will be a compliment to his play–maybe a good shooter that Rose could pass to for an open shot when he drives the lane. This is one option for the Bulls (and fans): give up on the season and draft key players or trade the picks for solid and helpful players for Rose.
Another option for the Bulls is to trade a couple of players and get draft picks, good role players, etc. A couple of players that the Bulls could trade would be Luol Deng or Carlos Boozer. Deng is in the last year of his contract and this off season Deng will be an unrestricted free agent. The Bulls might not have the cap space to sign back Deng because the Bulls are close to the Luxury Tax. So instead of just losing Deng to Free Agency, why not trade him and get some key players or draft picks for him? There would be a good amount of teams that would be willing to make the trade for Deng. The Bulls could get some solid role players or a draft pick and get a big name from college that could help Rose again. All of these ideas are about surrounding Rose with a solid core of good players that could help take pressure off of Rose. The same could be said about Carlos Boozer who is in the last two years of his contract. You could get some good players or draft picks for Boozer. Or even if you get rid of both of their contracts, you could go on a “Shopping Spree” and sign some big names in the NBA or get role players.
The final option would be for the Bulls to try to make the Playoffs and hope that Rose will be healthy and come back. But no matter what the Bulls do, they should do what is best for both them and for Rose. Rose is still their franchise player and is still their superstar. They need to surround him with a solid core to make sure that Rose is happy. The most important part of the Bulls plan, though, is Rose’s health. They will need him healthy to even have a chance at anything in the Eastern Conference. While all the Bulls Fans will be living deja vu with Rose’s injury, the Bulls will have to make some big decisions on what they should do this year. But everyone will be wondering two things: when will Rose return and how will Rose be when he returns? Only time will tell when this nightmare that Bulls fans are living will end.