Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose are beginning to co-exist with more harmony.

Butler and Rose talked about discussing their dynamic before the start of their road trip.

"We were laughing about it, saying the more games we get under our belt, the more comfortable we're going to be," Butler said. "I love playing with him. He's super aggressive. He's taking great shots. That's what we need. As long as I follow his lead on that style of play, we're going to be really good."

Butler and Rose have only played 92 regular season games together since Butler became a full time starter.

"It's always going to improve," Rose said of their chemistry. "This is new for me as it's new for him, playing with an elite guard. We're very young. The way that he has been playing is great. Like I always say, I want him to shoot more. But I just love his shot selection. And the way he's driving to the lane, getting fouled, it helps our team all the way around."

The Chicago Bulls have more interest in re-signing Pau Gasol in the offseason than they do trading him away before the deadline.

Gasol is in the final season of a two-year deal.

Gasol has been very productive since leaving the Los Angeles Lakers for the Bulls in 2014.

Nikola Mirotic will miss at least three weeks after having an appendectomy on Wednesday, the team announced. 

Mirotic was diagnosed with an acute appendicitis and had surgery at Rush University Medical Center.

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Sean Highkin, Bulls reporter for Bleacher Report and writer for NBA’s ProBasketballTalk (@highkin) discuss the Bulls and the league at large, including: the impact of Joakim Noah’s Injury and Chicago’s cap situation (0:50), Derrick Rose’s place on the team (11:07), differences between Fred Hoiberg and Tom Thibodeau (15:07), whether the Bulls are already Jimmy Butler’s team (21:45), Bobby Portis (30:12), Chicago and Taj Gibson agreeing to a renegotiation and extension (33:42), Chicago’s place in the Eastern Conference (41:01), the trade deadline and 2016 free agency (45:45), All-Star Weekend (56:35) and comparing different media experiences (1:11:25).

Subscribe to RealGM Radio on iTunes or via the XML feed. 

Mike Dunleavy Jr. is targeting a February return from his offseason back surgery.

Dunleavy will be paced through a controlled scrimmage with contact on Tuesday and will also travel with the team on their seven-game trip.

Dunleavy said his back feels "great."

This is roughly the same point in late November he reached before suffering a setback in his recovery. But Dunleavy said he's more confident this time.

"It's mostly conditioning, rhythm, timing," Dunleavy said. "I haven't played in a game since May. Overall, I feel really good."

Nikola Mirotic admitted his confidence is down this season.

"I had that experience a lot before and the only way to get it back is to work hard," he said. "And stay positive. I need to stay positive. I need to forget what happened yesterday, what happened last week. So (Friday) is another chance in Boston. I know I need to be strong."

Mirotic set the bar high for himself by averaging 20.8 points in March last season as a rookie with the Chicago Bulls.

"Today, I'm not scoring easy baskets. I'm not running like before," he said. "I'm not making those open 3s. I'm not doing things in the low post. But if I can do it last year in March, I can do it this year, too. It's a little bit confidence, a little bit more working out, and I think it will come soon."

Derrick Rose said he didn't struggle with his confidence during the first of the season while adjusting to Fred Hoiberg.

"It wasn't hard to keep my confidence," said Rose on SportsTalk Live Wednesday at the United Center. "It was just hard to stay focused on my goals."

Rose has only missed six games so far this season.

"This year, I was just trying to play as many consistent games as possible," said Rose. "Next year I want to throw in my individual goals. I love the way I'm playing right now.

"As far as the team, I love the team that I'm on. We're missing Joakim (Noah), but I love where I'm at right now. I'm at peace with myself."

Rose has a PER of just 11.7 this season, but 20.4 in his last five games and 17.9 in his last 10 games.

Joakim noah will undergo surgery on his left shoulder and miss the next four to six months.

The Chicago Bulls said in a news release that the shoulder dislocation was "reduced in the training room" Friday night and was evaluated at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago, where it was determined that he will undergo surgery to stabilize his left shoulder.

Noah may have played his final game with the Bulls as he will become a free agent in the offseason.

The Bulls figure to give more minutes to Bobby Portis in Noah's absence.

Joakim Noah suffered a dislocated shoulder during the Chicago Bulls' 83-77 loss on Friday.

Noah immediately grabbed his shoulder and screamed as it appeared to pop out of place. 

Noah initially injured the shoulder during a Dec. 21 loss to the Brooklyn Nets and missed almost a month of action. An MRI showed a small tear in the shoulder, but Fred Hoiberg said several weeks later that he was confident that surgery would not be needed.

"He's down as he should be," Jimmy Butler said. "This is the game he loves. He wants to play for this team. Just being out with the same injury, something like that, I don't know what it is, but I know that he wants to be out there with us."

While the Bulls aren't sure what Saturday's MRI will show, Bulls players seemed to fear the worst.

"Anything can happen up here, man," Derrick Rose said. "We're saying that now this year. That's something that we never would have thought would have happened. But he's a big piece to our team. He is going to miss a little while now if it is dislocated. We just got to find a way to just grind games out. If we're up throughout the game we got to find ways to maintain the lead and play that way."

Joakim Noah remains unhappy with his standing with the Chicago Bulls.

Noah reportedly "still hasn't moved past losing his starting job" late in training camp, according to a source.

The source added Noah “hasn’t been a distraction by any means, but isn’t the biggest [Fred] Hoiberg fan these days.’’

As far as Hoiberg was concerned, Noah’s been very accepting of his new role.

Noah will be a free agent this offseason.