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CHICAGO -- Derrick Rose will have surgery Friday morning on the torn medial meniscus in his right knee, the Chicago Bulls announced Thursday. The Bulls said that Rose will undergo a meniscectomy, or a "surgical removal of all or part of a torn meniscus," according to WebMD. This is the second time Rose has torn the medial meniscus in his right knee. The first came in November 2013, in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The first time Rose suffered the injury, he chose to fix the meniscus instead of taking all or part of it out. This time, a different decision has been made. Bulls team physician Dr. Brian Cole will perform the surgery Friday. He also performed the surgery on Rose in 2013, as well as one in May 2012 after Rose tore the ACL in his left knee in the first game of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Depending on what Cole sees Friday during surgery, there is a belief among many within the organization that Rose could come back at some point this season. "It's all based on tomorrow," Bulls executive VP John Paxson said at a Bulls charity event on Thursday night. "And them going in and [seeing the knee]. Our anticipation is that it's going to be -- nothing's an easy procedure but there's an area that's going to get taken care of. And the hope is that he will [play this year]. We still got about two months of the regular season and we're all hoping that he does [play this year]." Paxson said that Rose is trying to stay mentally strong despite the latest setback. "You can imagine that initially he was -- this is a young man who is going on his third surgery and he's been through a lot. He's been through some tough rehabs. But Derrick's got great character, and I personally believe he's going to find his way through this. Hopefully, given what we know, we'll know more tomorrow when he has the surgery, but this will be something that's hopefully easily corrected and he'll be better than ever. Feeling really good. maybe for the first time in a long time." Bulls center Joakim Noah didn't want to think about the idea of possibly playing without Rose for another season. "We're not there yet," Noah said. "We're not there yet. We just got to stay positive. We find out tomorrow. Just be for him as much as we can and just support him." The Bulls face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
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