[Note by your friendly BullsBlogger, 04/04/12 1:57 PM CDT: Update from Bulls practice Wednesday: According to Thibs (important caveat), Rose participated with some contact. Rose himself says he's still not running at full speed. ]
Gar Forman poked out his head on Tuesday afternoon to speak with AM1000 from a charity dinner held at the UC.
The Bulls GM touched on a few topics, first of which was Derrick Rose's injury. The stance basically is 'we lied before, but believe us now':
It was a serious injury, When we took the MRI, there was some fluid build-up. We knew it was probably going to take a while, but different guys heal from different injuries at different speeds. You never know. The positive again is he has never taken a step back. The process has been good, and hopefully we'll have him back either later this week or into next week.
Forman added that Rose did a workout with no setbacks (including running, which is a step up from earlier depending on who you talk to), and if he's feeling just as good Wednesday should participate in part of practice.
So for the umpteenth time, I'll believe it when I see it, but that'd certainly be great news if he's indeed fully healthy to play in the next couple of games. As Kelly Dwyer said in the wake of the Bulls 2-game losing streak, this is a pretty fortuitous time to go through such a 'slump'. But that's assuming Rose and Rip (whose progress was also designated favorable by Forman) get reasonably healthy and acclimated before the playoffs. If the Bulls are being accurate with that prognosis, now, then that timing should line up well enough.
Forman also touched on the report last week about Tom Thibodeau's contract extension talks. He confirmed the assumed stance that they'd wait until the end of the season to complete that negotiation, and both sides want a deal. He also added that the Bulls had 'unprecedented' negotiations with Thibodeau after his rookie coaching season, princes that they are. It's similar posturing as the initial leak from Thibodeau's camp was, though the Org. seems more genial about it. Again, it'll probably get done, but it'll probably also get messy first.