Rose suffered and orbital fracture on the first practice of the season on Sept 29.
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After saying Tuesday that Rose would “most likely” be out for the entire preseason and expressing doubt about whether Rose would be ready for the regular-season opener on October. 27 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Hoiberg said Rose has been cleared for more physical activity.
The Bulls were planning to practice on Thursday, take Friday off, and then practice on both Saturday and Sunday before leaving for Charlotte, and the hope was that after the game with the Hornets, Rose would be ready for contact. No definitive decision on Rose’s status for the regular-season opener has been made. Until then, however, it’s basic conditioning as they try and get him back into game shape.
The Bulls clearly are moving into a new era, with Jimmy Butler – who agreed to a max contract extension this summer – as the team’s leading man and Fred Hoiberg installed as coach.
“Derrick’s in the building”, Hoiberg told reporters.
Hoiberg wasn’t completely ruling Rose out for the opener, but it definitely no longer appears to be a certainty his name will be announced for the NBA’s season opener against the team that put the Bulls out the playoffs last May. In the past years, Rose was hampered by knee problems and has struggled to start a season healthy.
That seemed unfathomable in 2011 when Rose was the league’s MVP, Tom Thibodeau looked like a revolutionary hire as head coach and the Bulls had steamrolled their way to the best record in the Eastern Conference – better even than the newly assembled Big Three in Miami. Otherwise, he has averaged 16.5 points and 6.0 assists on Opening Night, helping the Bulls go 4-2.
The 42-year-old explained that Rose can not wear a protective mask over his face due to the swelling and added that he was considering holding out his star point guard for the first week of the 2015/16 season in which the Bulls will play three games in four days. 82 games and hopefully playoffs, you want to have Derrick there for the majority of that.
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“If he likes it, he may want to keep it on for protection”, Hoiberg said.
