Derrick Rose Injury: Chicago Bulls and Tom Thibodeau Will Continue to Be Tested

ESPN is reporting that Derrick Rose’s visit to a back specialist reveals that the MVP guard has no structural damage to his back.

While fans, teammates and most franchise personnel alike wiped the sweat from their collective brow, coach Tom Thibodeau probably locked himself inside of his war room.

Rose’s injury has been categorized as day-to-day, which can be interpreted on either end of the sooner-or-later spectrum. However, for the Bulls, that date always seems to be on the later side.

C.J. Watson, Richard Hamilton and Luol Deng have been listed as day-to-day with their respective injuries over the course of the season, and each player has missed stretches spanning no less than 11 days and seven games.

Hamilton is currently sitting out his second extended spell to the tune of 14 days and eight games, so far.

In games past, the Bulls have fared well without Rose, winning five out of the seven games he’s missed.

However, with Rose’s back injury being more serious than his turf-toe ailment, Thibodeau definitely has some strategizing to do, as it relates to the rest of Chicago’s season.

First and foremost, Thibodeau and company have to decide how long to initially sit Rose.

Rose’s style of play combined with the nature of his injury definitely means that he will be out until the staff is absolutely certain that he can play with minimal risk. If Rose is having trouble with even one aspect of his game, he may not be allowed back on the court.

The second and most critical part of all of this is figuring out how to play Rose once he is cleared to return.

Chicago has a great team this year, and they are much improved from last season. Staying healthy will definitely keep them among the favorites to win it all.

It goes without saying that Rose being healthy is the most important aspect of the Bulls’ championship hopes.

Thibodeau loves to keep his best players on the floor. He’s even taken some heat in the early part of the season for playing his stars in situations where they were not needed.

Thibs has definitely had plenty of learning opportunities for handling player injuries, so it will be interesting to see how he manages Rose upon his return.

It may not be a bad idea to go with the formula used for the New Orleans Hornets game that saw Rose on the court for about 20 minutes and Watson carrying the load for most of the remaining time.

As it stands now, Rose is likely out up until the All-Star break, and there is a chance that he may even sit out the All-Star game. It may be disappointing to NBA fans, but it is in the best interest of the Chicago Bulls franchise.

Thibodeau has a challenging task ahead.

On the downside, winning games without Rose is obviously going to be difficult.

On the upside, the Bulls get the opportunity to really find themselves in his absence.

Despite the challenges that await Chicago, the team actually has a chance to grow in a way that may put it over the top as it relates to a becoming a championship team, but it all rests on how well Thibodeau plans for the future.

Follow @JDouglasDavis.