Shredded left ACL, torn right medial meniscus—Derrick Rose fully regaining his old form is a tenuous prospect moving forward.

Sustaining multiple traumatic injuries in two out of the last three seasons has cast a dubious cloud over Rose’s NBA future.

Like a baseball pitcher’s elbow or shoulder, knees for basketball players serve as their essential foundation as functioning athletes. They are effectively defunct without full capacity in their pivotal joints.

Point guards, in particular, must continually drive to the basket as a means of both scoring and setting up their outside shooters. They must use constant pivoting movements when handling the ball, navigating through traffic and serving as head floor general.

Merely shooting from distance or executing a basic pick-and-roll aren’t possible without a reliable power source in the lower appendages.

But when it comes to the Chicago Bulls’ franchise meal ticket, these needs get ratcheted up to another level entirely.

Rose is the most explosive player in the NBA. He operates with a dynamism that is simply unparalleled (Russell Westbrook perhaps being the one exception).

On top of playing at Mach 1-level speed, Rose drives through the interior—crashing into the trees of the opposition’s front line—as if he were LeBron James.

He really has no regard for the disparity between 6’0’’, 190 lbs and 6’8’’, 250 lbs.

Now that he has experienced serious damage in both knees—missing 135 games out of a possible 184 since 2011-2012—what will become of this dynamic superstar?

Rose increased his statistical production annually for three seasons before struggling immensely with injuries over the last three.

Totals in nearly every scoring category reached their peak in 2010-2011. They subsequently dropped off across the board, save for negligible increases in assists (0.2) and blocks (0.1) in a lockout-shortened 2011-2012 (66 games).

Rose was also in the process of compiling career lows in field-goal percentage, assists, steals and blocks before undergoing surgery for his torn meniscus in late November.

There is no denying that repeated devastation to his body has hampered him both physically and in the stat sheet.

And when Rose comes back next season, onlookers should unfortunately expect more of the same, at least until he acclimates to normal game speed.

Yet, the real pertinent question is what playing capacity will he reclaim in 2014-2015?

Will Rose hit the floor as an average, good, great, or elite NBA player?

Such a prognostication is rather difficult without possessing a degree in the medical branches of orthopedics and psychiatry.

What is possible, though, is offering an informed gut feeling on the subject.

From what he has already displayed and from a person’s natural inclination to operate apprehensively following major surgery, Rose will never quite be the same.

He can still produce at a 20.0 PPG, 5.0 APG level. But realizing his upper-echelon 27.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 7.7 AST status from the 2010-2011 playoffs seems unlikely.

In other words, Rose as a MVP in the Association is a thing of the past.

We can only hope that one of the classier persons in professional sports returns with a passion for leading the Bulls back into postseason relevancy.

That—we can assure you—seems very likely.

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