Derrick Rose Return: Chicago Bulls Announcer Convinced Superstar Point Guard Will Return This Season

The Chicago Bulls are not expecting Derrick Rose to return this season, but television announcer Neil Funk has a hunch that the injured superstar will return at some point this season.

Bulls general manager Gar Forman and head coach Tom Thibodeau recently said that Rose, who is recovering from surgery that repaired a torn meniscus in his right knee, is bound to miss the remainder of the season.

But in an interview with ESPN Chicago, Funk said that he is still convinced the superstar point guard will decide to make a comeback before the end of the season.

"No one in the Bulls organization, they have stuck to their guns that he is out for the season. But I just have this feeling, I don't know why, and this isn't the first time that I've said it, but I really think he's going to play before the season is over," Funk said.

Funk admitted he is unsure when Rose will decide to return this season. But when pressed to give a possible return date, Funk said that a playoff comeback is the most likely scenario.

"At what point is unclear and obviously they are going to monitor his minutes very closely if he were to come back. All of those things are going to happen. How much of a factor, whether it's at the end of the regular season or into the playoffs, that remains to be seen. Obviously, there is a likelihood or strong likelihood that maybe he won't play during the regular season," Funk said.

Rose, who missed the entire 2012-13 NBA season because of an ACL tear in his left knee, went down with another major knee injury in his 10th game back from the long layoff.

The 25-year-old superstar, who previously said that he could return in the playoffs, recently hinted that he is not yet thinking about returning this season. But for Funk, Rose is just taking a careful approach in his rehabilitation.

"I think he wants to be sure that he's 100 percent, which he thought he was when he came back off that other knee injury, and it looked like he was just starting to round into shape when he hurt that other one," Funk said.