Back on May 12 of last year, former NBA MVP Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. The knee injury and the surgery to repair it has kept the rising star off the floor for a considerable amount of time, but Rose’s return to the court for the Bulls appears to be right around the corner with the perennial All-Star finally being cleared to play by doctors according to Melissa Isaacson of ESPNChicago.com:

Derrick Rose’s doctor has cleared the Chicago Bulls’ star to play, a team source said, but his long-awaited return to the lineup won’t occur until he can confidently dunk off his left foot, Rose has told the team.

Although officially given the green light by his doctor, Rose is taking a cautious approach in returning to the floor for the Bulls. Rose clearly doesn’t want to return too early from the injury in an effort to avoid re-injury and not being able to play at the level his accustomed to.

With the Bulls currently sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 34-27 record, there’s no reason the superstar guard should rush to get back into the lineup for head coach Tom Thibodeau. Although the Bulls haven’t played as well this season without Rose in the lineup, the team is still in the playoff picture without their floor general and would rather have him confident at a 100 percent rather than hesitant  and overly cautious once back on the floor.

Despite the good news of Rose being cleared to play, the Bulls have struggled as of late and need their best player on the floor as soon as possible. Chicago has lost six of their last 10 games and may continue to lose ground in the East if the recent problems persist.