Some things from my pal:

- [Rose's] depression was real. Apparently Lebron had been turning the trash talk up, saying 'Rose is too small for me,' etc. Rose apparently let that get to him some, as he kind of dislikes LBJ but tolerates him since they appear at so many things together. Post ECF, the stay-at-home-ness got to the point where Rose was getting greasy home-cooked stuff snuck over to him...and I guess the D-Rose personal chef was actually getting really pissed about it.

- Rose in regular contact with MJ, who during the depression actually texted him "Man Up" or something to that effect. Get it together, etc.

- As soon as Rose emerged from this, he began pestering management for a two guard. BJ Armstrong asked management if the Jason Richardson rumors were real, to which he got no response. At that point BJ put it more aggressively to management - "we need to meet about this" (paraphrased). At that point, Bulls front office people actually went to Derrick's house. No details about this part, but from what I understand the meeting went so well that Derrick has been left very much content / set at ease. No idea what that means but I guess he approves of the things they have in play right now.

- Friction has started up a bit with regards to # of people on team flights. Derrick brought tons of people to MIA/CHI games, and it got JR a little riled up. They met about it and tempers cooled.

- Goes without saying, but D-Rose wants that max deal offered to him, and doesn't want one iota of lowballing. This should be a no-brainer, but obviously these are the Bulls so you tend to wonder. Derrick has been helping family members out financially and therefore some degree of paranoia has risen up regarding the future $$.

All my quotes are meant as paraphrases. This is delivered to me second hand so at least just take this as an explanation of some possibilities of what's out there. As with anything else, ever.. this is filtered - but it's what I've been hearing.