Feb 11, 2013; Deerfield, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose reacts during a rehab session as he recovers from an ALC injury at the Berto Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Reggie’s basic point appears to be that the Bulls can’t beat the Miami Heat as currently constructed and should have been doing more to fix that.

“What have you pieced together? Have you made any moves? Have you made any trades to get better? You know all roads to the championship lead through Miami,” Reggie Rose told ESPNChicago.com. “What pieces have you put together for the physical playoffs?

“Joakim Noah is a great player. Luol Deng is a great player. But you need more than that. You have to put together pieces to your main piece. The players can only do so much. It’s up to the organization to make them better.”

The Bulls stood pat at Thursday’s trade deadline.

“It’s frustrating to see my brother play his heart and soul out for the team and them not put anything around him,” Reggie Rose said.

To be perfectly honest, I’ve said similar things about the Bulls over the past year or so. They’ve had plenty of chances to acquire players that could help the Bulls in their quest for a championship — J.J. Redick comes to mind — but have passed, for any number of reasons. These days, their concern seems to be “flexibility” going forward.

This brings us to the second half of the headline, wherein John Paxson is the worst.

Pulling off a trade would have been complicated for the Bulls, who are hard capped at $74 million in payroll this season.

“In order for us to do something we’re not in a position to take on any real salary, so we’re kind of limited in what we can do,” Bulls vice president John Paxson said last month on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN Chicago 1000. “I think our team has grown. It’s not always pretty. Let’s face it, we’ve had some ugly games this year, and that’s kind of who we are right now. But we do grind it out and play hard.

“You’re always on the lookout to do certain things, but I think our move hopefully will be bringing Derrick back into the fold.”

Apparently, Paxson said this a month ago, which I vaguely remember, but that’s not the point. The point is that Mr. Paxson, one half of the GarPax duo (along with Gar Foreman) that has been running the Bulls’ basketball operations for the last several years, would apparently like us to believe that the Bulls would be all over the trade market if it weren’t for that pesky hard cap that keeps them from adding salary.

Fact: Even with the hard cap in place, the Bulls can still make trades. It’s not even that difficult.

Fact: The Bulls have been trying to dump salary in trades since July.

Fact: GarPax voluntarily put the hard cap in place by signing Kirk Hinrich using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

Hypothesis: The Bulls did nothing at the trade deadline because their owner has no interest in paying for their team, not because of the hard cap.

It’s as if Paxson expects us to have completely forgotten that the Bulls could have avoided the hard cap entirely. Based solely on his comments, you would think the hard cap just appeared one day without giving GarPax a chance to avoid it. This is not only false, it is hilariously false. Nobody forced the Bulls to give Hinrich almost $4 million this season and more than $4 million next season. Furthermore, nobody forced the Bulls to then sign Hinrich using the MLE instead of doing a sign and trade when they sent Kyle Korver to the Atlanta Hawks.

But apparently, the Bulls were robbed of a chance to make the move that would put them “over the top” because fate intervened in the form of a hard cap.

Anyway, Reggie Rose insists that Derrick may be less likely to return because of the Bulls inaction, which KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune thinks is disingenuous at best and outright false at worst.

Regarding Reggie Rose’s comments to @espnchipowers: If DRose is mentally, physically ready and still sits, that’s not DRose I’ve covered.

— K.C Johnson (@KCJHoop) February 21, 2013

DRose should be conservative, only play when he’s ready. FWIW, Reggie Rose told Tribune last May there’s “no way” DRose sits whole season.

— K.C Johnson (@KCJHoop) February 21, 2013

A reasonable expectation would be for Derrick to return sometime in March, which fits with the timeline we’ve been given all along. Until we hear definitively otherwise, there’s no reason to question that.

As to John Paxson? You’re the worst, John. The worst.

Jan 18, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose (1) warms up prior to a game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

John Paxson was on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” this morning on ESPN Chicago 1000. Among the issues he addressed, the Chicago Bulls position in trade talks and the progress of Derrick Rose took precedent.

I’ll save the best for last and start you off with what he had to say about the upcoming trade deadline:

 ”We’re up against what’s called a hard cap… we’re not in a position to take on any real salary so we’re kind of limited in what we can do… You’re always on the lookout to do certain things, but I think our move hopefully will be bringing Derrick back into the fold.”

While waiting for Derrick Rose to recover from ACL surgery isn’t exactly a yearly regimen for Bulls fans, trying to decipher what their relatively quiet front office has to say about any potential movement has become a pastime. It’s clear that Gar Forman and John Paxson have their hands tied, partially by the luxury tax but more rigidly by owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

Chances are that unless some team wants to take on Rip Hamilton for a couple first-rounders or something just as unexciting, the Bulls will stand pat come February 21st, just like they have for the past two seasons.

Should fans be happy about this? Not necessarily, but there isn’t much to complain about either. Sure, Chicago could use some more depth but they did just discover that they’ll be represented by not one, but two all-stars this year. Not to mention, Tom Thibodeau is once again a coach of the year candidate and their former MVP, Derrick Rose is on the mend:

 ”We can’t sit here today and say he’s going to be back in three weeks or after the All-Star break… his body is going to tell us and then when we get to that point that’s when we’re going to have to sit down and determine, after we talk to our doctors and everything, then determine our gameplan of minutes and how best to bring him back… We want this to be a progression where he comes back, he starts to play and every week he gets better and feels better.”

Just like everyone who has any ties to the Bulls organization, John Paxson is preaching patience, patience and more patience. Perhaps the smartest thing the Chicago front office has done this season is make no concrete predictions regarding Derrick Rose’ return date.

Look, I want Derrick Rose back on the court as badly as everyone else does, but the worst thing that could happen if he comes back too early is another injury while the worst thing that could happen if he waits it out is that the Bulls could take a few losses. Obviously, one is worse than the other.