Bulls forward Luol Deng missed his 11th straight game on Tuesday night with a right calf strain.

Deng began running on a treadmill Tuesday and is "feeling a little bit better," according to coach Vinny Del Negro.

However, the team has no timetable for his return as their playoff hopes continue to dwindle.

"I don't want to say day-to-day; I don't want to say a week," Del Negro said. "He's got a little bit more time before he [comes back]. There's no target date. It's going to be how his leg reacts with the conditioning, running, cutting and moving. If it doesn't tighten up, we'll get him out there. If it does, we'll have to slow the process down."

Derrick Rose is confident that the Bulls will qualify for the playoffs.

Chicago enters Tuesday's action a game behind Toronto for the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls have nine games left in the regular season.

"We're still going to make it," Rose told ESPNChicago.com on Tuesday. "You can't think about stuff like [not making the playoffs].

"In my mind, we'll be making the eighth spot. We'll be playing LeBron [James] -- playing Cleveland. The closer we get, the [more] I'm going to think that. We can't walk around acting like we're not going to make it, because that's when things turn on you. Our biggest goal is to make the playoffs, and we're going to make it."

Bulls rookie forward James Johnson played 13 minutes on Thursday night after partially tearing the plantar fascia in his right foot.

He even tried to warm up with the injury on Saturday night.

"Even if he's able to go, it will be on a limited-minute basis," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "There's a possibility he's going to be out for a little bit. He has swelling, some bleeding. Nothing positive."

Johnson said he felt something pop while running in the first quarter on Thursday.

"It was hurting," he said. "But I love my teammates and I'm going to ride with them no matter what. I'm not going to let a little pain stop me. No doctor told me what happened to me (Thursday) so as far as I knew, I was good to go.

"But I tried to warm up (Saturday) and it wasn't doing so well. I'll condition a little and go get treatment. I should be all right soon."

NBA legend and TNT analyst Charles Barkley believes in Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro, but doesn't think the team will land a top free agent this summer.

"I don't understand why Vinny gets blamed," Barkley told the Chicago Tribune. "When Vinny had a healthy team, they had the fifth or sixth seed in the East. He can't do anything about injuries. Let's be realistic. This team, if they were healthy, wouldn't be any higher than fourth anyway in the East."

"I think that would be unfair if they fire him," added Barkley. "It's easy to fire the coach. Vinny got the Bulls to the playoffs last year, took the champs (Celtics) to seven games in that series, they lose Ben Gordon and if nobody gets hurt, they're in the playoffs again."

The Tribune then asked Barkley if he felt the Bulls could land a top-flight free agent this coming offseason.

"Zero chance at LeBron and zero chance at Dwyane," Barkley said. "As far as them getting one of the big names, I don't foresee that."

Barkley isn't a fan of Chicago targeting Chris Bosh either.

"I don't like Bosh and (Joakim) Noah together," he continued. "They're both undersized power forwards. If they got Bosh, they'd be like the Atlanta Hawks. They'd be a good team, but they'd be little guys."

According to Barkley, Joe Johnson would be the smartest target.

"Joe Johnson would be a nice pickup because they don't have a (shooting) guard," Barkley said. "But they have to be careful. Just because you have money doesn't mean you have to spend it. Be realistic. They're not going to win a championship in the next few years anyway. And once you spend it, you're stuck with that team. You can screw it up even if you have cap space."

NBA legend and TNT analyst Charles Barkley believes in Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro, but doesn't think the team will land a top free agent this summer.

"I don't understand why Vinny gets blamed," Barkley told the Chicago Tribune. "When Vinny had a healthy team, they had the fifth or sixth seed in the East. He can't do anything about injuries. Let's be realistic. This team, if they were healthy, wouldn't be any higher than fourth anyway in the East."

"I think that would be unfair if they fire him," added Barkley. "It's easy to fire the coach. Vinny got the Bulls to the playoffs last year, took the champs (Celtics) to seven games in that series, they lose Ben Gordon and if nobody gets hurt, they're in the playoffs again."

The Tribune then asked Barkley if he felt the Bulls could land a top-flight free agent this coming offseason.

"Zero chance at LeBron and zero chance at Dwyane," Barkley said. "As far as them getting one of the big names, I don't foresee that."

Barkley isn't a fan of Chicago targeting Chris Bosh either.

"I don't like Bosh and (Joakim) Noah together," he continued. "They're both undersized power forwards. If they got Bosh, they'd be like the Atlanta Hawks. They'd be a good team, but they'd be little guys."

According to Barkley, Joe Johnson would be the smartest target.

"Joe Johnson would be a nice pickup because they don't have a (shooting) guard," Barkley said. "But they have to be careful. Just because you have money doesn't mean you have to spend it. Be realistic. They're not going to win a championship in the next few years anyway. And once you spend it, you're stuck with that team. You can screw it up even if you have cap space."

NBA legend and TNT analyst Charles Barkley believes in Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro, but doesn't think the team will land a top free agent this summer.

"I don't understand why Vinny gets blamed," Barkley told the Chicago Tribune. "When Vinny had a healthy team, they had the fifth or sixth seed in the East. He can't do anything about injuries. Let's be realistic. This team, if they were healthy, wouldn't be any higher than fourth anyway in the East."

"I think that would be unfair if they fire him," added Barkley. "It's easy to fire the coach. Vinny got the Bulls to the playoffs last year, took the champs (Celtics) to seven games in that series, they lose Ben Gordon and if nobody gets hurt, they're in the playoffs again."

The Tribune then asked Barkley if he felt the Bulls could land a top-flight free agent this coming offseason.

"Zero chance at LeBron and zero chance at Dwyane," Barkley said. "As far as them getting one of the big names, I don't foresee that."

Barkley isn't a fan of Chicago targeting Chris Bosh either.

"I don't like Bosh and (Joakim) Noah together," he continued. "They're both undersized power forwards. If they got Bosh, they'd be like the Atlanta Hawks. They'd be a good team, but they'd be little guys."

According to Barkley, Joe Johnson would be the smartest target.

"Joe Johnson would be a nice pickup because they don't have a (shooting) guard," Barkley said. "But they have to be careful. Just because you have money doesn't mean you have to spend it. Be realistic. They're not going to win a championship in the next few years anyway. And once you spend it, you're stuck with that team. You can screw it up even if you have cap space."

Bulls center Joakim Noah is urging the team to increase his playing time.

His time could increase from 10 to 12 minutes for Monday night's game against the Rockets.

"I've been negotiating every day," Noah said.

He played slightly fewer than 10 minutes on Saturday night against the 76ers and was pain-free on Sunday.

"My foot is getting better," Noah said. "I'm almost 100 percent. I'm just trying to get my rhythm back and help us win some games."

Bulls center Joakim Noah looked good in his return to the court on Saturday night, but coach Vinny Del Negro is focused on easing him back properly.

Noah missed three weeks with plantar fasciitis of the left foot and recorded seven points and four rebounds in just 9:22 of playing time.

"My foot felt great; my lungs felt terrible," Noah said. "I was a little rusty, but it felt great to be on the court."

Chicago plans to limit Noah to about 10 minutes of action for now.

"There's a process in place from Dr. [Brian] Cole and Fred [Tedeschi, the team's trainer]," Del Negro said. "You just can't throw him out there and think all of a sudden his foot is gonna feel great.

"So we'll try to build it up and be smart about it. He wants to be out there more, but let's just see how he reacts. We're gonna control that situation a little bit until he feels better when we extend his minutes."

With LeBron James and the Cavaliers visiting Chicago, the subject of free agency predictably came up prior to the game.

?This is a business,? he said. ?This isn't high school basketball anymore. You have to do what's best for you and your family. I've always said I've loved being in Cleveland. I love these guys in here and how I approach the game.

?Chicago is a great city, one of the best in America," added James. "It has a great lifestyle and is a great sports town. Derrick Rose is an incredible talent, and Taj Gibson and (Joakim) Noah are really bright spots for them. They have a lot of great pieces in place when they?re healthy.?

Vinny Del Negro revealed that Luol Deng will be out at least another two to three weeks.

"Luol is gonna be out two to three weeks probably," Del Negro said. "Luol's gonna be out a while."

As the Chicago Sun-Times reported from Dallas on Thursday, Deng was limping noticeably after working out before the game.

"[Deng] tried to warm up a little bit against Dallas," Del Negro said. "He was feeling better every day and thought he was getting close and then he started doing some straight ahead jogging and it really swelled up on him, so it's gonna be two or three weeks. Hopefully, two, but he has more inflammation now than he had before, so that's a setback. He's definitely gonna be out for a little bit."