CLEVELAND _ Cavaliers guard Derrick Rose has left the team to deal with what it calls "a personal matter," but coach Tyronn Lue said Friday he expects Rose back this season.
Frustrated by injuries that have plagued his career, Rose, 29, is pondering his basketball future, according to a report by ESPN's Dave McMenamin and Adrian Wojnarowski.
While Lue has no timetable for Rose's return, Lue said he told Rose to take all the time he needs.
"Just going through a tough time right now. So you know for myself, the coaches, the players, the organization, we support him and just wish him back soon," Lue said before Friday night's game against the Charlotte Hornets at Quicken Loans Arena.
Rose has played in only seven of the Cavs' 18 games, twice sidelined with a sprained left ankle that recently required a walking boot.
Friday will be Rose's eighth consecutive game missed. His last appearance was on Nov. 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks. He's averaged 14.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists, but has had a positive plus/minus rating in only two games this season.
According to ESPN, Rose has not been with the team since Monday's game in Detroit, when he was seen entering the locker room still wearing the boot.
The 2011 league MVP and a three-time All-Star, Rose has been plagued by knee injuries _ a torn left ACL (2012), two tears of his right meniscus (2013, 2015) and a torn left meniscus (2017). The Chicago Bulls, who made him the first overall pick in 2008, traded him to the New York Knicks in June 2016.
Rose signed a one-year, veteran's minimum deal with the Cavs on July 25 to try to resurrect his career.
"He's tired of being hurt and it's taking a toll on him mentally," ESPN reported, quoting a Cavs source.
Rose missed four games after an Oct. 20 victory at Milwaukee, where his ankle was injured on a flagrant foul by the Bucks' Greg Monroe. Rose returned for an Oct. 29 home game against the New York Knicks, but later speculated that might have been too soon.
"Who knows?" Rose said on Nov. 17, when it was announced he would miss at least two more weeks. "I knew I was just trying to do the right thing, coming back as soon as possible. And it swelled up on me and that's when I took under consideration that something may be really wrong."
Rose might also be questioning where he fits in with the Cavs. When he signed, he expected to be the backup point guard, but that was before the Cavs traded Kyrie Irving to the Celtics for injured Isaiah Thomas on Aug. 22. Then Dwyane Wade was signed on Sept. 27 after reaching a buyout agreement with the Bulls.
Wade has taken over as leader of the Cavs' second unit and the group has shown better chemistry than the starters thus far. Thomas is expected to return from a torn labrum in his right hip before the end of the year and might be close to practicing if his recent drills open to the media are any indication. He played a controlled one-on-one with a Cavs staffer after Friday's shootaround.
Lue said he talked to Rose about still having a role on the team, but it may have been only via text.
"Yes, I did. I reached out to him and texted him and told him that we support him," Lue said. "And know that he's going through a tough time right now, but he's still very talented, which you saw in the Washington game, the early part of this year and even last year. So take as long as he needs to take and we wish him well and we want him back."
Rose scored a season-high 20 points at Washington on Nov. 3 and hit 2 of 4 3-point attempts.
Lue said Friday he doesn't anticipate using more than a 10-man rotation, even when Thomas, Rose, Iman Shumpert (left knee effusion) and Tristan Thompson (left calf strain) are all able to play.
