Derrick Rose 'recruited' Bulls player

• Derrick Rose, always against recruiting players, had to call Kirk Hinrich to join the Bulls
• Hinrich, 31, played for the Bulls during Rose's first two seasons and helped him develop
• Rose and Hinrich won't be playing together until midseason, as Rose rehabs his knee from a torn ACL

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Throughout his career, Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has been against "recruiting" players to come play alongside him in Chicago.

Rose reportedly didn't put much effort into recruiting LeBron James or any other free agents during the free agent frenzy of 2010.

But when Kirk Hinrich, who played for the Bulls from 2003-2010, became a free agent this past summer, an injured Rose put in a call.

"Is Kirk the first person I recruited?" Rose asked a media crowd. "Yeah, Kirk is the first person I recruited. I only got a chance to play with him for a short period of time. For me to have him back, knowing how hard he wants to win, knowing he's been a winner all of his life, I know we're going to be good together."

Hinrich, 31, played for the Bulls during Rose's first two seasons and helped the No. 1 overall draft pick acclimate to the NBA.

Ironically, the Bulls traded Hinrich to the Washington Wizards in 2010 to open enough salary-cap room to make a run at signing James, who instead took his talents to South Beach.

Rose said Hinrich's tenacious style of play and character made him pick up the phone to orchestrate a reunion.

"I think Kirk is someone I could see myself playing with for a long time," Rose said. "It's nothing more than when you're a hooper and you know who's going on the court with you and he's not giving up and will keep battling. I'm someone who's going to keep fighting until the end. He's the same way. Why not have him on the team?"

But Rose and Hinrich won't be playing together until midseason at the earliest, as Rose rehabs his knee from a torn ACL he suffered in last season's playoffs.

"Obviously, missing Derrick, it's a huge blow," Hinrich said. "But there are a lot of guys on this team who've been around a long time. I know everyday we're going to go out, compete, defend, share the ball, and do the things it takes to win."

Hinrich shrugged off the idea of Rose recruiting him.

"I talked to him a couple time during free agency," Hinrich said. "I know Derrick, he's a great kid. …The bottom line is when (free agency) started to get dicey, my heart and gut was telling me this was the place for me."

Hinrich, who played for the Atlanta Hawks last season and battled injuries, said he thinks Chicago fits his style of play perfectly.

"I feel like this is a good fit for me—this team the way they play, what they emphasize," he said. "Being on the outside looking in, I admired the way the team played. I wanted to be a part of that."

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau expects Hinrich to make an impact right away.

"I think the fact that he's played here before is helpful," Thibodeau said. "I think he has the ability to play both guard spots. He's played with Derrick before. He's played with Luol and Joakim."

Hinrich reunites with Bulls forward Luol Deng, who said he's noticed a void since Hinrich left the organization.

"I think sometimes when you have a player here, you kind of overlook what a player does," Deng said. "In the past few years that Kirk has been gone, I think everyone that follows the Bulls, everyone on staff, everyone who plays with him, you start missing what he used to do. It was clear defensively how good he was and how committed he was to the team, how hard he plays every night. I'm really happy to have him back. I think we appreciate each other a lot more now."

Hinrich is looking forward to re-joining the Bulls, the team that drafted him out of Kansas.

"In a lot of ways it feels like I never left, in a lot of ways it feels like I've been gone for while," Hinrich said. "It's one of those things where when you first get in the league, human nature is that you want to establish yourself individually. Once you do that, you only care about winning. …I feel like myself, Luol, some other guys came in and brought the organization back to respectability. It's much better now. I love our group, they're great guys, they care about the right things, that goes a long way."