Derrick Rose has no time for Boozer-Gasol trade rumor

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Derrick Rose prepares to strike against Hawks guard Jeff Teague in the Bulls’ win Monday. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times

Updated: February 21, 2012 3:09PM

Derrick Rose has a gear other players don’t.

In a league saturated with speedy point guards — from Steve Nash to Kyrie Irving, from Chris Paul to John Wall, from Rajon Rondo to, cough, Jeremy Lin — Rose still is the dragster champion.

We saw it again Monday afternoon as the Bulls beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 90-79 and Rose scored a game-high 23 points with six assists and five rebounds.

Back from a five-game absence with a strained back, Rose looked rusty at times — such as when he missed four of his first six free throws — but the explosiveness was there.

The vanes may need slight tweaking, but the jets, Bulls fans, are chock-full of propellent.

With less than two minutes gone, Rose reminded the crowd of what he can do, blowing past two defenders at warp speed and tossing up a high, banking layup. The ball didn’t go in, but roars echoed through the United Center as the sheer beauty of the move sunk in.

There’s that sixth gear, No. 101/2 on the dial!

Rose had another explosion with six minutes gone and the Bulls ahead 15-11. He faked right at the top of the key, then drove left, leaving jock straps and broken ankles in his wake, before laying in a harsh-angled lefty off the glass. Even in slow-motion replay, the spin and drive looked fast.

‘‘It was great,’’ Bulls forward Luol Deng said of Rose’s aggressiveness from the start. ‘‘It was good to have him back.’’

That kind of locker-room praise had to suffice because, atypically, Rose bolted from the arena before reporters had a chance to talk to him.

It may be that he is tired of discussing his back, about which we can only hope there is nothing more to be said. Best outcome? His back is never an issue again.

Sick of Boozer, so they say

Or it could be Rose didn’t want to talk about the rumor, first reported in Spain, then in English on NBA writer Chris Sheridan’s blog, that Rose wouldn’t mind, would even welcome, the Bulls trading power forward Carlos Boozer to the Lakers for center Pau Gasol. The hinted message was that Rose is not thrilled with Boozer’s defensive efforts. But then, who is? And rumors about trades are as hard to concoct as pouring water on a sponge.

Deng looked genuinely surprised when he was asked if he had heard anything about the story. As he sat in front of his locker, icing both ankles, his right shin, his left knee and his left forearm, Deng said somewhat frostily, and with a dollop of sarcasm, that he and his teammates knew nothing about any such thing. ‘‘I’m sure soon I’ll be in a trade, and then it will all go away,’’ he said. ‘‘And then there’ll be another trade.’’

He looked at the microphones.

‘‘Someone has always just got to write about something. I guess it’s interesting. Whoever wrote that has done a great job because we’re talking about it right now.’’

And the tautology of the rumor had, indeed, made it full circle. It’s a real rumor now.

No matter that the Bulls have the best record in the NBA and two centers in Joakim Noah and Omer Asik. Or that Boozer is almost untradeable with three years and $46 million left on his contract. Or that the Lakers once may have wanted point guard Paul for Gasol but may have little interest in Boozer.

It doesn’t take much to get things riled up when you have a team as full of injuries and potential and partial success as the Bulls.

And what else are blogs for except to stir things up, usually with unnamed sources?

Everybody knows

During the game, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau used numerous lineups, including having little guard John Lucas III on the floor with Rose.

‘‘Thibs makes us know multiple positions,’’ said Lucas, who had 10 points and drained a big three-pointer when the Bulls were stagnating late. ‘‘It’s not based on your size. Like I said, as a point guard, you gotta know all five of the positions.’’

That means Rose knows all five positions, too, including power forward and center, or what’s missing there.

As a person close to Rose — yes, an unnamed source, but an authentic one — said of the Gasol-Boozer thing, ‘‘It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see [it’s a good deal].’’

Hey, isn’t it enough that the All-Star guard is back and lifting off again?