So Now What?

Derrick's hurt. This sucks. There's little point in hashing out right now how much this sucks (a lot), or how much it's going to hamper him in the future, or whether we should go burn down Adidas headquarters. For now we can do three things:
1. Breathe a sigh of relief that it's not an ACL.
2. Punch any and every Rose-hater gloating on Facebook
3. Decide what to do about the Bulls going forward.

3 is tricky. If it had been an ACL, it would've been much simpler. Blow it all up, trade Deng and Boozer for whatever you can get, play the rookies, tank (I know a TT-coached team would have a hard time doing that, but still...), and rebuild around whatever's left of Rose, JFB, Noah, Taj, Mirotic, and your draft pick (picks if Charlotte can stay halfway decent).

But with the Meniscus injury, it's not that simple. If Derrick goes the safe route and has it reattached, he's looking at a 4-6 month recovery time. Which, of course, means anywhere from right before the start of the playoffs, to sometime in the 2nd round. Now, in case you haven't been paying attention, the East is terrible. It's not out of the realm of possibility that a Bulls team without Rose (or even Butler) for an extended period of time could come away with the third seed. But it's pretty unrealistic to think Derrick could step in right away and the Bulls would have a chance to beat the Heat or Pacers in a 7 game series. If he's able to come back in March and have a chance to get back to the game speed, then...

Unfortunately we don't get a crystal ball to tell us which end of the recovery time he might fall on. And the trade deadline being in February, unless Derrick is able to recover quickly (hey, it can happen), the Bulls will be faced with a tough decision with Deng. Personally, I say if they can get a decent asset for Deng, pull the trigger. I love Lu, and appreciate everything he's done for the Bulls, but the team (as constructed now) championship window is closing. The Bulls still have a bright future, but they can't waste Derrick's prime rebuilding again. If they can get a good young player (or even better, a first round pick in a loaded draft, even a late pick), they'll still be in good shape going forward.

And if Derrick chooses to have the Meniscus cut out instead of replaced, shortening his recovery time in the short run but potentially his career in the long run, then I put that squarely on all of you that had jokes when he decided to play it safe last year instead of rushing back from injury. (Hypothetically) Thanks a lot, jackasses.

Quick Thoughts on Bulls/Sixers 11/2

I'm choosing to remain on the optimistic side of the 2013/14 coin here, but that one stung a little. However, can we all stop with the silly "Derrick Rose is terrible now" nonsense? Yes, he looks rusty, and is clearly not making good decisions at the end of games. But he's still one of the very best players in the NBA, and still capable of doing things no one else is capable of. And if you honestly think the Bulls would be better off with Nate Robinson as their point guard, then I honestly don't respect your basketball intelligence.

Derrick will be back to normal soon, once he's had a little more time to be back to game speed, and an early loss to the Sixers will not actually be the end of the season. I know it's not fun to lose 16 point halftime leads to really bad teams, but the Bulls will be OK. It's a long season everyone, the Bulls will still win 55 games and be one of the top 3 teams in the East.

- I'm a little more worried about the Bulls' depth. My Dunleavy pateience meter is getting very small, Kirk does not look good, I like Nazr but he isn't good for more than 8 minutes a game. I'd like to see TT work Tony Snell into the rotation a little more going forward. Theoretically, he's supposed to add 3 point shooting, which the Bulls have been awful at so far this year. So far they're 13-56 on the year, good for 23%.

-Speaking of Tony Snell,why not bring him in at the end when you need a 3 late? What are you hoping to accomplish by leaving Jo in the game there?

-I know it was probably moot at that point, but good job catching the ball, Dunleavy.

-I don't like this new, calmer, collected TT. While I do like that the rotations are under control more these days, I don't feel like a TT team from the past few years blows that game quite so easily. Also, how about some more actual plays? The offense is looking surprisingly Vinny-ish lately.

-Keep doing what you're doing, Boozer and JFB. Hopefully everyone will be on your level, soon.