When the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away from the Chicago Bulls for a 97-91 victory on Thursday night, it became painfully obvious that Chicago lacked the star power provided by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Derrick Rose is still on the mend and the Bulls are without their top scorer to close out games at the moment, but Westbrook left the arena talking about how Rose will return to the NBA in top form. Here is what the star guard said about Rose (via ESPN Chicago):

"Definitely, he'll be stronger, definitely be a lot better after seeing him this summer, seeing how quickly he was getting better and better. No doubt in my mind he will. He works hard at what he does, and he'll definitely come back better determined and come back and try to be better."

Westbrook attended workouts with Rose during the offseason, so he got an early gauge on the progress of the Bulls' point guard and the process he applied to rehab activities. Although Westbrook noted that Rose "wasn't able to do everything he was capable of doing" during the offseason, he was sure to also mention that the hard work put in by Chicago's star was a clear sign that the former MVP will return with a vengeance later this season.