Jalen

Rose

“I’ve never had the red carpet treatment, I’ve never had anybody say, ‘Oh here comes Jalen, let’s open up the doors and give him everything that we have,’” Rose said. No? Not the University of Michigan, Mr. Fab Five? Back to the point, coach Sam Mitchell said Eric Williams adds much-needed intensity on defense, and pointed out that Rose presents matchup problems coming off the bench. He may be right: in six games as a reserve, Rose is averaging 16.2 points compared to 14.8 as a starter.

The Bulls expect the results to confirm that surgery is not necessary.

Rose appears to be day-to-day.

The Bulls don’t believe Rose’s 237-consecutive-games streak is in jeopardy. He did wear a cast on his right hand Sunday.

''I’ll definitely be ready for the regular season,’' said Rose.

Other players whose names have come up in the talks include Alvin Williams, Jerome Williams and Morris Peterson of the Raptors and Eddie Robinson and Donyell Marshall of the Bulls. According to the report, the deal is shaping up as a two-for-two trade and could be completed tomorrow,

''I heard from John Paxson,’' Rose said, ''and he assured me a trade to Toronto wasn’t going to happen. ''If it does happen, that means he went back on his word. I see him as somebody who is a man of his word. I have no reason to believe otherwise.’'

Toronto, looking for another scorer, is said to be willing to part with Morris Peterson, Jerome Williams or Alvin Williams to get scoring like Rose can provide. The Knicks also remain interested in Crawford, and may try to get Portland involved in a 3-way trade.

Rose drew a double technical when he chest-bumped San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen, and then jawed with the Spurs’ bench. Bowen hassled Rose all night into a 4-for-24 performance with five turnovers. Rose has now failed to reach 20 points for three straight games, his longest drought as a Bull.

The rumored trade would have brought Antonio Davis, Morris Peterson and Michael Bradley to the Bulls for Jalen Rose and Donyell Marshall. Still, it’s expected that the teams will take another stab at reviving a deal this week, perhaps with a third team entering the fray.