April 28, 2012 was a date that Chicago Bulls fans will remember for a long time, but would rather forget.

With roughly 1:24 left in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs between the Bulls and the Philadelphia 76ers, the Bulls were up 99-87 and looked as though they were on their way to an easy win--the first of several in what was to be a glorious playoffs that would hopefully see them meet the Miami Heat, the team that bested them in five games in the previous season's Eastern Conference Finals.

At that moment, Rose tried to cut through the lane from the top of the key and turned right. But as he rose up once and landed on his left foot, the normally controlled movements of the 2010-11 NBA Most Valuable Player suddenly began to swerve erratically, like a factory Mustang losing its grip on an icy winter road. And as he lost control of the ball and landed awkwardly on the floor in front of his hometown crowd, people knew something was wrong.

Very wrong.

It didn't take long before the news trickled in: the 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year and three-time NBA All-Star who led the Bulls to the best record in the NBA in the 2010-11 season with 62 wins, had torn the ACL in his left knee and would miss not only the playoffs, but an extended period of time playing. That extended time stretched all through the entire 2012-13 season, which ended when a ragged, injured yet feisty Bulls squad went down in five very bitter, physical semifinals games to the eventual champion Miami. Thoughout that time, Bulls fans could only watch and wait for what the Adidas shoe company marketed as "#TheReturn" of their franchise superstar, their savior.

And rejoice they did at the home opener this season when Rose finally returned to a raucous crowd at the United Center, where Rose scored 18 points on 7-of-23 shooting, including the game-winning shot in a dramatic 82-81 victory over the New York Knicks. However, Rose definitely looked rusty in the last eight games he played, notching only 16.1 points on 37.3 shooting before fate dealt Rose and Chicago hoops fans another cruel blow on Friday, when Rose's comeback was cut short after he tore the medial meniscus in his right knee on a non-contact play against the Portland Trail Blazers. Opting to have surgery Monday, the Bulls superstar will again spend the rest of the season on the sidelines while the Bulls try and recuperate from the realization that their franchise star and best hope of beating Miami in the playoffs is once again out of the equation.

 It might be time to for the Bulls to ask themselves: "What's next?"

The answer? Whatever comes next, sadly, might not involve Derrick Rose in a Bulls uniform at all.

An ACL injury is about the most devastating, physically taxing and difficult injury for any athlete to recover from. That tiny strand of tissue does not heal itself, and damage can affect an athlete's balance and rob them of their speed. True, there have been several very notable cases of recovery from ACL surgery. The latest and greatest example, NFL running back Adrian Peterson, recovered from tearing that ligament last season and rushed for an incredible 2,047 yards for the Minnesota Vikings, leading them into the playoffs and winning the league's MVP award. Jamal Crawford had his ACL reconstructed in 2001 and went on to have a very productive NBA career, including winning the 2010 Sixth Man of the Year trophy.

But for those stories, there are also a list of players who were never the same once their knees gave out. Penny Hardaway, a four-time NBA All-Star, was one of the premier guards, hell, players, in the NBA in the mid-1990s, helping the Orlando Magic reach the NBA Finals in 1995, but after ACL and ankle injuries, he never returned to form. Amare Stoudemire was one of the most feared power forwards in the game, but after a series of knee issues, no team was willing to take a chance on his uninsurable knees in the summer of 2010 except the New York Knicks; Stoudemire gave them an impressive All-Star first half in his first year with the Knicks, but when his knees flared up again over the last two years, his minutes went down, as did his production, leaving New York with an expensive star who could only do so much to help.

While the Bulls were clearly looking to build around Rose, and rightfully so, that might be too big of a gamble now to take. That leaves the Bulls with an unsavory, but necessary option: rebuilding.

Yes, it's an ugly word to say. Fans know what that means. It means years-emphasis on plural, years-of possibly losing seasons. Years of struggling, years of frustration, possibly a few lottery years. It's not pretty, and it's not fun. But if planned correctly, it can result in a bright future with an NBA championship or two at the end of the tunnel.

Luol Deng comes off the books after the season. After an All-Star season last year, he could fetch a nice asking price for the Bulls. Carlos Boozer's hefty contract finishes after the 2014-15 season, and considering how he has underperformed, it would be wise to load him off to free up more salary cap space for a 2015 free agent class that includes, at this time, Rajon Rondo, Marc Gasol, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez, David West, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Roy Hibbert, just to name a few. Joakim Noah still has a few good years left in him, but if they wanted to part with him as trade bait, an All-Star with toughness on defense and a penchant for rebounding with a nice scoring touch could get a tempting bounty for Chicago. The rest of the roster is fairly expendable and could be blown up easily in a matter of three to four years. They might stumble and trip for a little while, as no rebuilding process is easy. But in time, and with the savvy mind of Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf behind them-the same man who helped build the Michael Jordan-led dynasties in Chicago in the 1990s-the smart money is on the Bulls returning to their winning ways in four or five, maybe six seasons.

Rose came back gallantly, trying his best to recapture that old magic he had when he was arguably the best point guard in the league for the first three years of his career. But with this latest setback, even though Rose is a gamer and tough as they come, if history shows anything, it's that while his spirit might be willing, his knees may be too weak for Chicago to take a chance on. Moving on might not be a decision that a lot of fans will understand, but in the long run, it might be the Bulls' best bet.