Derrick Rose's trainer on offseason progress: 'He looks like the old Derrick to me'

History has taught us that any piece of news about Derrick Rose's progress ought to be taken with several grains of salt, even as instinct and wishful thinking tells us to be unreasonably optimistic.

The most recent such update comes from Rose's trainer, Rob McClanaghan - who has been working extensively with the Chicago Bulls point guard this summer - and it's bound to elicit optimism and skepticism in equal measure.

"He looks like the old Derrick to me," McClanaghan said Tuesday, according to NBA.com's Sam Smith. "Now having that full year (back playing), a good playoff run, everything, the mental stuff is back, too."

Rose is coming off an up-and-down comeback season, on the heels of his effectively missing two full years to knee injuries. It was a confounding campaign that offered just enough glimpses of "the old Derrick" to incite legitimate hope that he'd recapture his MVP form, or something close to it, in time.

But even before his second meniscus surgery in as many years cost him six weeks after the All-Star break, and even after he unexpectedly managed to work his way back just ahead of the postseason, Rose looked uncomfortable and discombobulated more often than he looked like his old self. His jump shot was broken, he was hesitant on drives, he shirked contact, and he shot more 3-pointers than free throws.

That season began in earnest with Team USA, whom he represented at the FIBA World Cup. A year later, Rose has opted out of USA's mandatory minicamp, thus taking himself out of consideration for the 2016 Olympics. In spite of that, or perhaps because of it (and with an additional assist from hindsight), McClanaghan sees more positive signs this time around.

"I think everything has come together this summer more than last summer," he said. "He's had momentum going into the summer unlike last year. Mentally, physically, he looks very good. There's no reason he’s not going to have a good season."

One reason, in particular: McClanaghan has a great point of comparison in another one of his trainees.

"I worked out Derrick and Russell (Westbrook) together," he said. "It's amazing how competitive those guys are in workouts. Unlike many guys in this league, those guys together push each other. It was like getting back to predraft '08. Like Russell said (of Rose), everything is back to where it used to be. Derrick’s timing is back and mentally he's in a very good place."

Westbrook, for what it's worth, did indeed offer Rose the same generous assessment.

Last season, Rose warned that trying to predict his performance was an exercise in futility.

"It's kind of like predicting weather," he said, "nobody knows.

The prospect of his somehow matching Westbrook for explosiveness again is thrilling. But history has taught us that we need to see it to believe it.