CHICAGO -- Unlike Chicago Bulls tickets and food on Randolph Street, talk is one thing that's still cheap on the West Side.
So while Bulls media day is a time for endless optimism and empty promises, Derrick Rose knows his quotes about returning (again) from a season-ending knee injury are worth about as much as a preseason victory.
"I can sit here and say a million times that I'm going to be fine, but think the only way to answer all the critics and everyone asking about me is actually being on the court and actually playing," Rose said Monday at the team's new West Side training facility.
Actually Playing is a good sub-theme for The Return, Part 2.
For the past two seasons, give or take a couple months, Rose has been a basketball bystander thanks to a pair of knee surgeries. And while he sat in a suit, the vacuum was filled by endless chatter about his heart, his mind and his dedication. That's what happens when a star is dimmed in a big market.
Does anyone still care whether or not he no-look-passed the dinner rolls to Carmelo Anthony? I thought not.
The silly season is over. A city looks forward to watching Rose play basketball again without the weight of a franchise on his shoulders.
"I see him in the gym, he's so happy right now," Bulls forward Taj Gibson said.
Wait 'til coach Tom Thibodeau starts yelling. If Rose smiles through that, you know he missed basketball.
Training camp begins this week at Camp Thibs -- now at the sparkling new Advocate Center across the street from the United Center -- and of course, Rose is the lead story.
Rose showed that he could play, albeit without a jump shot, this summer with the U.S. national team. Now we're ready to see him show he's still the hyperkinetic star of the Bulls, less than four years removed from being MVP, but with plenty of time left on the court.
"I haven't played in two years, so I should have two years on the back end," the 25-year-old said with a smile.
Bull, Interrupted, as it were.
Four years ago, Rose sat at media day in Deerfield and declared his goal of winning the Most Valuable Player award. With LeBron James in Miami and Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, we chuckled at his youthful pride. He won MVP, of course, establishing a can't-miss reputation that was halted by an ACL tear, a lost season, and then a meniscus tear.
It might be too much to say the famously humble Rose has been humbled by the past two years, but he certainly has more mature goals this time around.
"I just want to be healthy," Rose said. "I think that's the only thing I'm worrying about right now. I could care less about the awards. I could care less about any accolades or whatever. I don't care about it. I just want to go out there and win games. If winning games gets me to get to any of them awards, that's cool, but my biggest goal is just winning a championship."
While he raves about his current physical condition, Rose said he's also cool with lingering questions about his health. He's aware he'll deal with those questions for the rest of his career.
Because of his seeming fragility, there were critics of him playing for the national team this summer, and they grew louder when Paul George broke his leg in that televised scrimmage in Las Vegas. But Rose played in Spain, and he survived the hectic schedule.
He won't get back to being himself by limiting his game or tracking his minutes with a stopwatch. The Bulls will be mindful of his usage, but Rose will have to play without restriction to find his bearing.
"There's no guarantees with anything," Thibodeau said. "Basically, the only way you can guarantee someone not getting hurt is to not let them play. And so whether it's praise or criticism, it shouldn't really matter to Derrick because the important thing for him is to do the right things. If he's doing the right things, he'll have good fortune at some point."
Rose is thrilled with the addition of Pau Gasol, a low-post scorer who can command a double-team and operate outside of the paint, as Joakim Noah can. Along with Gibson and Mike Dunleavy, Gasol gives the Bulls scoring complements to Rose. If rookies Doug McDermott or Nikola Mirotic can see the floor at regular intervals, that will only help Rose find space to drive.
"I think so," Rose said. "With the rules of the NBA, you can be in the lane three seconds and then you have to be out. I think I'm pretty fast and good enough get in the lane no matter who is guarding me."
The key is for Rose to stay active. His woeful shooting display in Spain showed he still has some rust to knock off, and Rose said only NBA players can really get why it'll take time to get his rhythm and timing back.
That Rose didn't try to force the issue in the FIBA tournament, though, is a great sign of his patience and maturity.
"I want to make the game as simple as possible," Rose said.
As for all the questions on how the pieces will fit together, Rose added, "We have a lot of threats on this team. We just can't overthink everything."
Exactly. In that vein, for the Bulls to be a championship-caliber team, Rose still needs to command the ball and attack the defense. That means fewer jumpers and more midrange shots, as Kirk Goldsberry wrote about in Grantland a couple weeks ago.
He just needs to play like the Derrick Rose of old.
"I don't feel pressure to be that player," he said. "It's just in me. It's just in me. It's just the way I play, the way I see the game, the way I move. I don't mimic my game after anyone, just the way I play."
The core of this Bulls team has been through a lot together. Noah, Gibson and Rose were there before Thibodeau arrived on a white horse to save their careers. They've seen the Bulls rise as title contenders and they've felt the impact from a fall back to earth.
But as another season begins in Chicago, optimism abounds about this team's potential.
"But we all know potential doesn't mean anything," Noah said. "Now we're trying to do something that's bigger than potential. To do that, there's really not much to talk about. I'm just excited to get on the court and see what we can do."