Report: NBA season will start October 29th with Derrick Rose returning vs. Heat

The NBA schedule is expected to be released next Tuesday, just about three months before the season tips off.

However, a draft of the schedule is done, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel is reporting that the season will start October 29th in Miami, with the Chicago Bulls watching the Heat raise a second consecutive banner.

More importantly that the Heat celebrating is that the game will mark the return of Derrick Rose. Nearly 18 months after tearing his ACL in a playoff game against the 76ers, Rose will at long last return to the Bulls to start this upcoming season.

The Sun Sentinel is also reporting that the Heat will be traveling to Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Christmas Day. It still remains to be seen whether or not Kobe Bryant will be healthy for that one, although early reports on his recovery from a torn achilles have been positive.

No word on any Celtics games yet, but you can imagine the league would love to have several Nets-Celtics games in prime time, and Brooklyn heading to Boston on Christmas would seemingly be a ratings bonanza for the league. Hopefully more of the schedule leaks soon, if not we'll see where everything stands on Tuesday.

T-97 days until basketball.

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