We’ve waited all summer to ask Derrick Rose, “When do you think you’ll come back?”

Now, with training camp finally underway, the answer he’s able to give us is, essentially, “I don’t know.”

The issue with Rose, however, is not necessarily about when he comes back, but whether or not his competitive nature will push him to return before he’s back to 100 percent.

“I think about that every day,” Rose said at media day on Monday. “If I come back early, will we have a great chance at winning it? But without me or with me, our goals are mostly the same and that’s to win a championship.”

Team doctors aren’t going to give him that opportunity—not this year—until everyone involved is completely certain he’s ready to roll.

“I wish I could be at training camp right now but I can’t,” Rose said. “I’m working on my patience, knowing that I have to prove to [the team] that I’m ready to come back. Whenever I’m ready, I’m going to have to prove to the doctors and my trainers that I’m willing to go out there and work hard and feel alright.”

And despite the fact that he’s walking great at the moment, he’s a far cry from “alright.”

“I’m not at that stage where I can start cutting yet,” Rose said. “I’m about two weeks away from that, where I’m starting to cut and just trying to do everything the right way.”

Meanwhile, Rose has been working out the parts of his body that aren’t injured, and he claims that outside of his bum knee, he’s in the best shape of his life. He thinks he’s gotten better in other ways, too.

“I think mentally, I got stronger,” he said. “I think about the beginning of my surgery where I wasn’t able to walk, or having someone to assist me to the door or to the car, and seeing me walk now and being by myself, I’m going to be good… I’m going to be a better player, but who knows in what area? Now my legs have never been this strong. My upper body has never been this strong before. My core has never been this strong before. I’m just going to see how far this takes me.”

In the meantime, Rose must practice patience—something he admits hasn’t always been his strong suit.

“I didn’t have patience at all,” Rose said. “That’s why I wanted to be in the league after my first year of college. That’s why I want a championship so bad. But it’s going to take time doing all the right things, improving myself every day. Even when I’m at home, I’m working out and just trying to do everything the right way.

“There have been times where I feel like I can jump, play around and do all these things. But I might injure myself, so I try to stay away from that.”

Truthfully, Rose comes into this season as optimistic as he’s ever been, and he admits his current state of positivity has just as much to do with fan support as it does his own physical rehabilitation.

“I’m speechless man, just to see how many people care about me and are praying for me,” Rose said. “I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that. It’s a blessing being in this position and just trying to stay positive. Like I said, work extremely hard try and come back better and just try not to let anyone down.”

No one in Chicago has felt let down by this young man’s recuperation, especially those of us that have followed “The Return” videos on YouTube. He wants to come back this year, and seems confident that his teammates can keep the Bulls competitive enough to stay in the playoff picture as he gets healthy.

“That’s why I love basketball,” Rose said. “With basketball you can have all the greatest players, but you have to play as a team to win.”

He has a point, but the Bulls can’t really play as a team until Rose gets back, and the big question for this organization all year is going to be, when?