NBA Rumors: Bulls Would Be Doomed If Derrick Rose Misses All of Next Season

The Chicago Bulls knew their title hopes were dashed when Derrick Rose suffered an ACL injury in Game 1 of the first round, but they probably weren't even thinking about next season yet.

Now that it's been revealed he might miss all of next season as well, the Bulls are in serious trouble.

Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times reports there's a lot of uncertainty about Rose's ability to come back next season. Even if he does, he probably won't return to his usual dynamic form until the following year.

Still, Bulls general manager Gar Forman told Hayes the team won't overreact if Rose isn't available and will instead focus on the future:

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Have we taken a hit in the short term? Without question. Will we make decisions based on the short term? We won’t. Our decisions will continue to be based on the long term, and a big part of that is Derrick, who we feel will be a special player for us for the next 10, 15 years.

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The Bulls were able to prove they could win games without Rose during the regular season. The 23-year-old superstar was unable to stay healthy for any extended period of time, finishing with just 39 games played.

Thanks to the team's terrific depth, they should be a playoff contender again next season with a minor addition or two in the offseason. That being said, they won't challenge for the top seed without Rose.

If they were to get him back for the stretch run and the playoffs, the Bulls would become a threat in the Eastern Conference. That would obviously be the most ideal scenario.

However, if he can't return at all, Chicago is doomed. Winning in the regular season and winning in the playoffs are two completely different things, as the Bulls learned the hard way a couple of weeks ago.

Rose takes the Bulls to an entirely different level when he's operating at full strength. With him, the Bulls are one of the league's elite teams. Without him, they are capable of sneaking into the playoffs and not much else.

Unfortunately, the uncertainty will limit the amount of moves the Bulls are likely to make. They won't want to waste valuable cap space on a veteran if they aren't going to be title contenders, which is basically what Forman said in his comments.

It's shaping up to become a lost season in Chicago. Fans don't like to hear that because it means there's a chance it will be 17 months before Rose returns to make the Bulls a top team again, but that's the reality of the situation.