Owner says Bulls won't rush Derrick Rose back

The Bulls won't be forcing Rose back into the lineup early. (Getty Images)

Derrick Rose's recovery is under constant reconfiguation. After suffering an ACL tear in the first round of the playoffs his return date has shifted from January, to February, and most recently March, keeping him out for the vast majority of the 2012-2013 season.

The Bulls are in huge trouble without Rose, and there have been mixed signals about exactly whether the Bulls think they have a shot at the 2013 season. But owner Jerry Reinsdorf made one thing clear this week, the Bulls are not going to rush the 2011 MVP back. From ESPN Chicago:

"I'm not going to let him back until the doctors tell me that it's absolutely safe for him to come back," Reinsdorf said on ESPN 1000's "Talking Baseball" on Saturday. "I made that mistake with Michael Jordan years ago where I think we let him come back too soon. It worked out OK, but it might not have. This time I'm not going to make that mistake. Until the doctors say he's 100 percent and they put their reputations on the line, he's not coming back."

via Jerry Reinsdorf says Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose won't be rushed back from knee surgery - ESPN Chicago.

The Bulls understand that while it's important to take advantage of every opportunity to win a title, Rose's window is the more important one. And that means making sure he fully recovers. So the Bulls are doing the right thing here, even if it may mean the entire 2013 season is caput. For now, they believe they can compete without him, just as they did last year, even with a different, if not better, bench unit.

A lot of teams have made the mistake of trying to rush a star back. On the surface at least, it appears the Bulls aren't going down that route.