The Chicago Bulls have Derrick Rose recovering from a facial fracture and he could return to the court in two weeks and that could put him in line to play in the season opener. The team has Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, Mike Dunleavy and Rose as the main starting options this season and having Rose on opening night would be big after this injury.
Rose suffered the injury on the first day of practice after taking an elbow to the face and he had surgery on Wednesday. According to NBA.com, Rose had successful surgery on his left orbital bone and he will be "able to resume basketball activities" within two weeks. Head coach Fred Hoiberg said that Rose will continue attending practice and will be learning the new team system even if he is not on the court and active while coming back from the injury.
Rose talked about his pending free agency in 2017 at media day and about financial security and basically the next day he went down with an injury. Rose has dealt with numerous injuries over the past few years, including multiple knee issues and surgeries and he has not played in more than 51 games in each of the past three seasons. Last year Rose played in 51 games and avoided major injury, but the last time he played a full schedule was back in 2010-11 when he played in 81 games.
Rose will be out for "at least two weeks" and will not be doing "any physical activity" in that time, according to ESPN Chicago. Rose will still have some time to come back and play for the season opener if the timetable holds, but the Bulls may want to be cautious with the point guard. Rose will be off the court for that time and he likely will have to take it slow when he comes back and is cleared for full basketball activities. The team has Aaron Brooks and Kirk Hinrich and those two players will be the main options to start if Rose can't go for Game 1 of the season.
The Bulls have a slot of depth and on media day Jimmy Butler praised the roster and said that the second unit of the team can also be very productive. The team has depth up front with Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol as well as Nikola Mirotic, Bobby Portis and Taj Gibson and this season Fred Hoiberg may use some different lineups to mix and match by size and speed. Hoiberg also could make lineup changes based on whether Rose is healthy or not.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol said that they hope to keep getting starts together this season, but Noah added that his health played into things last year. The team has Mirotic as a solid option and if Noah can stay healthy he will be able to be relied on more for the Bulls. Last season Noah played in 67 games while dealing with some injuries.