After suffering a blow to the face that resulted in orbital surgery, Derrick Rose will most likely sit out the pre-season and could miss the season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 27th.
Rose was scheduled to return to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday but as Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg said (via the Chicago Tribune), "He's gonna miss more time than that."
Missing the pre-season could turn out to be a big issue for Rose as he could start the season off rusty and find himself struggling in Hoiberg's new offense. Rose may have the biggest adjustment as he will probably have to become more of a faciliatator than being the focal point on offense. He struggled with that fact at times last year and will have to change if he wants to flourish in the new offense.
The absence of Rose will also give more time for Jimmy Butler to establish himself as the leader of this team. Butler had a breakout year for the Bulls last year and was the man on offense. Rumors had it that he and Rose clashed at the end of Game 6 in the playoffs last year when they were thrashed by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Those rumors, while denied by both, have not all gone away and reports have it that Butler is not happy with Rose's work ethic and now Butler can use this time with Rose out to show to Hoiberg and the rest of the team that he can be the leader in Chicago. But he has struggled in the pre-season after playing exceptional in the first game. But he will get better with more minutes under his belt.
It would be another game missed to the already many that Rose has missed from various injuries throughout his career. Missing the pre-season will hurt, but it won't hurt as much as missing the season opener against the Cavs. After the media frenzy he made with his comments at media day and now this news, Chicago fans are getting frustrated with Rose. Jimmy Butler, it's your time to shine.