Derrick Rose Tried to Recruit LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh to Bulls

Before Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers to join forces with LeBron James, Rose confirmed he tried to lure Wade, James and Chris Bosh to the Windy City to play with the Chicago Bulls in 2010.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I tried. People always said that I didn't recruit," Rose said Tuesday, per ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin. "I tried to recruit. I put out the video, but it wasn't for me to say that. I felt like it was for the organization to say that."

In the past, some questioned whether Rose did enough to help the Bulls land marquee free agents. James and Bosh signed with the Miami Heat in 2010, and Carmelo Anthony re-signed with the New York Knicks in 2014 despite plenty of interest from the Bulls.

In an interview with Marc J. Spears for Yahoo Sports, Rose was blunt about wanting to take a hands-off approach when it came to Anthony's recruitment. He told Spears selling Anthony on signing with Chicago was "not my job."

Envisioning James on the Bulls in 2010 or 2014 is certainly an interesting thought exercise since no franchise has suffered more from his presence in the Eastern Conference than Chicago. Four of the Bulls' last eight playoff appearances have ended at the hands of a team led by the four-time MVP.

The Bulls' Eastern Conference Finals defeat to the Heat in 2011 was the most painful as Rose's ACL injury a year later irreparably altered Chicago's trajectory and removed the team as a serious threat to Miami in the East.

Teaming up with James gives Rose his best chance of winning a title in years, but actually earning his first NBA championship may prove difficult with the Golden State Warriors looking a strong bet to win their third ring in four seasons.