There’s been a long ad campaign complete with hashtags and TV commercials. There’s been so much controversy that he has he’s become a staple on NBA Memes. There has been interviews in which he’s guaranteed being 100 percent and called himself the best player in the NBA. Nevertheless Derrick Rose is back and Bulls nation—and quite frankly NBA fans—are counting on him. So here it is, Derrick Rose’s Return: The Bad, The Ugly, The Good

The Bad:

It was obvious last season that although Derrick Rose may have been ready physically to play the game of basketball, he was not at all ready mentally. Some may have though it weird he used a goal such as “dunking off his left foot” as one of indictors he was ready to return to the floor. However, if fans stopped to think about and remember (although they would probably rather not) how freakish his injury was they’d understand why he was fearful of putting a ton of force on his left leg. The bad thing here is that although Derrick Rose has said he’s ready—and we sure hope he is—he has yet to step on a floor and have huge guys like Kendrick Perkins and Dwight Howard try to meet him at the rim. What if he attempts to put a large amount of force on his knee trying to jump over, around or into, one of these big guys and, for a split second, second-guesses if his surgically repaired ligament holds up? Hopefully, his confidence on camera translates to the court.

Derrick Rose calls himself the best player on the planet [WATCH]

The Ugly:

Rose has been out of the Bulls lineup for more than a year, meaning he hasn’t run an offensive play with them during a real game for as much time. The ugly? If the Bulls revert to Rose getting the ball and attempting to score at every turn. During his MVP season Rose was magnificent, but he took almost every shot. Last season we saw the Bulls move the ball and look to get open shots, without one person dominating. Rose was able to take the Chicago to an Eastern Conference Championship essentially by himself. If the Bulls find a way to integrate the 2012-2013 offense and the Derrick Rose offense from 2010-2011, they will have a sizeable shot at dethroning the Miami Heat and getting to the NBA Finals.

Derrick Rose throws down a nasty, well sort of nasty, 360 dunk

The Good:

Quite frankly, no matter the valid presuppositions heading into next season, the good is—Derrick Rose is back. No one forgets the amazing player Rose was from two years ago and in his MVP Season. How at age 22 he led his Bulls to the Eastern Conference finals. How he has been the only player in the past four years to unseat LeBron as league MVP. How he embarrassed people on a nightly basis with an arsenal of crossovers and mid-air moves. The list could go on but I digress. If the Bulls can find a way to get Rose back to where he was, if Rose can return from all the obstacles associated with an ACL injury, they will no doubt be contenders—not only for an Eastern conference championship—but also for an NBA Title.