Chicago Bulls' Immediate Remedies After Losing Derrick Rose

The much-anticipated return of Derrick Rose didn't last very long—10 games to be exact—and once again the Chicago Bulls are left looking for ways to overcome the loss of their superstar.

After missing the entire 2012-13 season recovering from a torn ACL, Rose tore his meniscus in Friday night's loss to the Trail Blazers. The outlook was bleak from the get-go and the Bulls' worst fears were again realized when it was announced Rose would be out for the remainder of the season.

After enduring the initial shock and disappointment, the Bulls as a team are now ready to dust themselves off and move on. So now the question must be asked—where do they go from here?

For starters, Kirk Hinrich slid back into the starting lineup for the last two games after starting all 60 of the games he played in last year. He is a serviceable point guard—averaging 5.4 assists per game throughout his career—and is a solid three-point shooter (37.9 percent for career).

However, he is simply no Derrick Rose. So while he will need to step into the role, he cannot be counted on to give the same production.

Marquis Teague, a 20-year-old guard from Kentucky, will also see an increase in minutes, although he has done very little in his NBA career to warrant any reason to feel optimistic about his contributions this season.

Jimmy Butler, on the other hand, has given the team plenty of reasons to feel optimistic. Butler averaged 8.6 points and four rebounds playing 26 minutes per game last season and may be ready to take that next step.

The 24-year-old Butler has started all nine games he has played in this season, averaging 11.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals, while knocking down 38.5 percent of his three-point attempts—all career bests. Although he has missed the last four games with a turf toe, once he comes back he needs to be given a much more increased role in the offense.

That leads to Carlos Boozer—the team's $15 million man—to pick up the rest of the slack. With Rose gone, Boozer becomes the team's No. 1 scoring option and he needs to play like it.

In Monday night's game against his former team, Boozer did just that, dominating the Jazz to the tune of 26 points on 12-of-23 shooting with 16 rebounds. Although the team lost, that is the type of production and aggressiveness he needs to provide each and every game.

With Nate Robinson no longer on the team, Boozer simply can't settle for just 14 shots per game as he did last year. He needs to be up near 18-20 night in and night out.

However, even with increased production from Boozer, Butler and Luol Deng, the Bulls will still be a bottom third offensive team in the league.

Even with Rose playing most of this season, the Bulls have scored just 91.8 points per game and shot 41.9 percent as a team—good for 27th in the league in both categories.

The offensive end of the floor is simply not where they win games under head coach Tom Thibodeau.

For this team to contend, it starts and ends on defense. The Bulls are the fourth-ranked team in the league in points allowed, holding opponents to 92.8 points per game. They are also limiting opponents to just 41.7 percent from the field, which is good for second in the league.

A defense like that is certainly playoff caliber, with or without Rose.

Without Derrick Rose last season, the Bulls advanced to the playoffs and even won a series against the Nets before being dispatched by the Heat in five games in the second round.

While losing Rose certainly takes the team out of any championship conversation, there's no reason they can't make some noise in the playoffs if the right guys can step up and produce.

Andrew Tornetta is a contributor for Bleacher Report. You can find his B/R archive and follow him on Twitter @AndrewTornetta.