Bulls' rookie phenom Derrick Rose has yet to receive a phone call from the team's, and NBA's, greatest player.

"I met him a couple of times, been over to his house a couple of times, but never talked to him one-on-one about basketball," Rose said. "I was in high school, before junior and senior year, when I met him a couple times."

The Bulls are just fourteen games into their season, but there have been indications that Joakim Noah's lack of conditioning could be a problem.

He waved to the bench just nine minutes into Chicago's game on Monday night and played just 19 minutes against Denver on Sunday.

Noah ended up playing 16 1/2 minutes on Monday, with none coming in the fourth quarter.

A source with knowledge of the situation has told Tommy Dee that the Warriors and Bulls were getting ready to finalize a Kirk Hinrich-Al Harrington trade earlier this month right before the Bulls' guard suffered an injury to his thumb.

Because of the injury, the Warriors had to find a new trading partner, which wasn't solved until they dealt Harrington to the Knicks for Jamal Crawford on Friday.

Harrington told reporters he wanted to be dealt to New York ?back in April.?

Bulls' forward Luol Deng will miss his third-straight game on Sunday night when the team battles the Nuggets.

Deng, however, continues expressing optimism that he'll return soon.

Derrick Rose scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half in a win in Golden State on Friday night but was forced to the sidelines in the closing minutes because of a hip injury.

According to Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald, Rose insisted he would be OK to play in Sunday's game at Denver.

"Man, it was a sharp pain that was there for a long time, but I'm all right now," Rose said. "I've just got to ice it and massage it. I'm not missing that game."

Rose's game did earn him a fan in Warriors' coach Don Nelson.

"We're big Rose fans here, love to watch him play, love to watch him get better in games," Nelson said after Friday's game. "Wow, what a show he put on in the second half. He's an incredibly talented point guard, right up there with the best of them."

Bulls' forward Luol Deng missed his second straight game on Friday night with a sore left hamstring.

Deng wanted to play but didn't feel right during pregame warmups.

"It feels fine when I'm running up and down," Deng said. "It's when I change direction or try to drive to the basket or play defense. When I push off with that foot, pain's still there. It's one of those things where I could play, but I don't know how it would feel throughout the game. I could end up being out longer. We're trying to be smart about it."

Luol Deng missed the Bulls' game in Portland last night, with guard Larry Hughes starting in his place.

Deng's injury will not solve the Bulls' glut at the guard position, however, and according to Hughes something has to change.

"I don't want to play like this," Hughes said. "I'm not comfortable with 15-20 minutes. Something has to change."

According to the Chicago Tribune, Hughes said he would accept coming off the bench as long as his minutes increased.

"You have to understand that situation and I do," Hughes said. "We have a lot of guys at one position. Somebody has to come off the bench, and you accept that role. But I'm not expecting 15-20 minutes, and I don't want to deal with that."

Hughes, a former All-Star and starter for an NBA finalist, said he would accept coming off the bench as long as his minutes increased.

"We all understood the situation going in," he said. "I want to give it a little time, but being put in a situation not to succeed doesn't do me or the team any good."

"I have a lot to offer as far as helping guys out. I want to be a positive influence. But not being out there in crucial times, I don't see the benefit."

Bulls' forward Drew Gooden aggravated his right ankle injury during Monday's practice and is now a game-time decision for the team's game against the Lakers on Tuesday night, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

The Chicago Bulls announced today that the team has waived forward Demetris Nichols.

Nichols (6-8, 216), appeared in two games this season with Chicago and averaged 1.0 ppg in 2.5 mpg.  Nichols was claimed on waivers by the Bulls on Dec. 7, 2007 and was re-signed by Chicago on July 24, 2008.  He was originally selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round (53rd selection) of NBA Draft 2007.  

Chicago?s roster now stands at 14.

Derrick Rose may be a long way off being able to do what Michael Jordan did in Chicago, but on Saturday night he became the first rookie to do something with the Bulls since His Airness.

According to the Chicago Tribune, with his 23 points in the Bulls' win over Indiana, Rose became the first Bulls' rookie since Jordan in 1984 to score in double digits in all of his first 10 games.

"I'm not [comparable] to him," Rose said. "I'm not even near him right now. I'm too far away. For me to do that, it's nice. But I'm worried about winning."