76ers @ Bulls, 4/28/12, 1:00 CST, TNT/CSN, Round 1 game 1. Options

[Balta1701-B]

Stay healthy derrick!

[GreatScott82]

Stay healthy derrick!

Ugh... you had to say it.

I hope its just a bad sprain. My knee used to lock up and pop back into place. When that happened you can either tear cartilage or just have a severe sprain of the meniscus. I hope its just a sprain. If thats the case, he would likely come back for the second round series if they make it that far.

[Balta1701-B]

Ugh... you had to say it.

I hope its just a bad sprain. My knee used to lock up and pop back into place. When that happened you can either tear cartilage or just have a severe sprain of the meniscus. I hope its just a sprain. If thats the case, he would likely come back for the second round series if they make it that far.

Torn ACL, Rose out for the year.

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

Worst possible news that we could have. Torn ACL does not bode well for what Rose does an an athlete. No way of knowing whether or not he can return to his former self until he steps on the floor again. I hope this is something that can just pass us by and it doesn't ruin his career by limiting his athleticism to the point where he can't explode or jump the same way he could when he came into the league. He relies on that athleticism so much and that's what makes him so special but it could also be his down fall. Unfortunately he wasn't blessed with 6'6 height like Jordan or Kobe. Those guys developed post games later in their careers to take the pressure off their bodies as they got older. Rose won't have that luxury, being 6'2. He has to work so hard for almost every shot. Without that explosiveness, my fear is that he won't be nearly the same player that he was prior to the injury. I couldn't bare to watch the kid struggle in that situation. Hopefully he makes a full recovery and can be back in action by early December and we can try again next year.

Meanwhile, we now have to start looking at how this team fares long term now that Rose is going to be done for the foreseeable future. Perhaps not even until late February as tries to rehab his knee. Typically, these injuries take 6-9 months to heal depending on the person and the surgery. The concern will be whether or not it will take a full year to recover from in terms of getting back used to playing again. He may come back before the end of next year but I don't expect him to really give us much until 2013. Who knows.. Everybody is different. He's the type of person that's going to work extremely hard to get back on the court and I know it's going to kill him not to be able to workout over the summer to improve his game.

The question I have is two part.

1- Do we draft a young PG now?

Or do we ride the season out with CJ Watson and JL3? It's not likely that whoever we draft is going to produce much for us anyways (See Butler), Thibs doesn't like to use rookies that much. But can you trust Lucas to have another season like he has had for us this year? I believe he's a free agent, so we will have a decision to make. Do we take him back or do we put faith in a young rookie to come in and play a backup role to CJ for a full season?

2- Do we try and acquire veteran PG, Steve Nash?

This is an intriguing option, but far less likely to happen unless he is willing to accept the MLE. I'd give the Bulls a solid shot at winning a championship with Nash as the starting PG. However, would he want to come here in the first place? And would he be willing to possibly sit on the bench when Rose comes back?

One option, if this were to happen, is to play Rose at off guard and go with the dual PG's lineup ala Rose and Hinrich from a few seasons back. That leaves Rip as the 6th man and Brewer gets waived because Jimmy Butler is a cheap replacement. I could dig that. I've heard Nash wants a 3 year deal which might ultimately be why this has a rare shot at actually happening. Ideally, you'd want him for 1 year, 2 at the most. It's a far cry but nevertheless intriguing, as we await the bitter reality of how this will impact our franchise, atleast a season down the road.