Feb. 27--Derrick Rose underwent successful surgery Friday morning on the torn medial meniscus in his right knee.
Team physician Brian Cole performed a meniscectomy, and the damaged part of Rose's meniscus was removed. The surgery, which sources said lasted no more than 15 minutes, was of the outpatient variety and Rose walked out of the hospital able to bear full weight.
Rose is expected to begin rehab Saturday.
General manager Gar Forman estimated Rose's return to action at four to six weeks, meaning that Rose should play this season. If Rose returns in four weeks, he could play in nine regular-season games. If he returns in six, he could play in the final three.
A source close to Rose said Rose is "absolutely on board" with returning to play this season and Rose "expects to be fine."
"I know Derrick is anxious to attack this rehab," Forman said. "We anticipate a full return to activity. He's full weight-bearing today. In about a week, he'll be able to do basketball-related drills and increase his strength and go from there."
Rose missed the entire 2012-13 season following surgery to repair his torn left ACL in April 2012. Last season, his comeback got cut short after 10 games when he tore his right medial meniscus for the first time in November 2013. In that surgery, Rose had the meniscus reattached and repaired rather than removed.
"This time, there was a flap where the tear was. They went in and they shaved that out," Forman said. "That portion that was damaged was removed and that should relieve the pain. After a short rehab, he should be back to where he was."
Cole performed both the previous surgical procedures.
"We anticipate a full return to activity," Forman said. "This is an injury that's fairly common with NBA players or pro athletes. A majority or most are able to come back to competition to play and it really doesn't have any effect on their career. In a small percentage of cases, maybe late in their career, they'll complain of some pain in regards to arthritis. But at this point, that shouldn't be any concern at all."
The Bulls, who will be without an ill Pau Gasol for Friday's game against the Timberwolves, expressed both support and relief for Rose.
"We just want him to take it step by step and whenever he's good enough to come back and he feels good about it that's when we want him out there and whatever he can give us is a plus," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I think you guys all see it when he's on the floor he makes us a much different team.
"He's dealt with a lot of things; experience teaches you a lot. He's been through two long rehabs, so I think he's going to have a good understanding of how he's going to approach this and just knowing this last one he got to a point where he was playing really good basketball, so it's going to happen again."
The Bulls are 7-5 without Rose.
"For where we want to get to, we need Derrick back," Joakim Noah said. "There's no question about it. Right now, it's about staying focused on the moment."
