Sources: Derrick Rose didn't recruit
— -- It turns out that Derrick Rose was not a part of the Chicago Bulls' pitch to Carmelo Anthony after all.
Rose, Chicago's star point guard, happened to be in the middle of his daily workout routine when Bulls officials brought Anthony into the United Center on Tuesday afternoon, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
Rose actually was surprised to see Anthony, one source said. He had no idea what time the Knicks' free agent would be visiting the Bulls.
Rose broke up his workout to approach Anthony and said a brief hello, but that was the extent of his participation in the Bulls' recruitment.
Chicago took Anthony through a prepared recruitment presentation for Anthony, and Rose's impression was that teammates Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were officially part of it, sources said.
But the Bulls' front office never asked Rose to join in.
"Derrick wasn't bothered that he wasn't a part of it," a source said. "He was just kind of shocked, like, 'Man, I didn't get the memo.'"
Rose had told Yahoo! Sports earlier in the week that he would not be involved in the recruitment of Anthony, so it seemed stunning when reports came out that he did indeed participate in the Bulls' presentation.
But there was no about-face on Rose's part, just perhaps a timely visit with Anthony to the arena set up by Bulls officials.
"Derrick was just working out, shooting jumpers, going through his normal routine," a source said. "He didn't even know what time Melo was coming."
Rose, who works out daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the United Center, did not attend a Tuesday night dinner the Bulls had with Anthony.
Despite his public stance against recruiting, sources close to Rose said he would have taken part in the Bulls' presentation if members of the front office had asked him to do so.
