The Bulls dropped their 10th straight on Friday night, but that wasn't really a surprise.

The only thing most fans came to see was Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James. The man who Bulls fans hope will somehow land in Chicago this summer. The man who scored 29 points on Friday (13 of which came in the fourth quarter) and proved once again that he can take over a contest whenever he wants. While James brushed aside most questions regarding the possibility of playing alongside Derrick Rose & Co., he was very complimentary of the fans and the city itself.

"I am well respected here," he said of Chicago. "They like their basketball here and how I play. For these fans to see what they've seen in the last 15 [years] ... they've seen greatness. They've seen the top of the tier. For them to respect the way I play the game when they've seen the greatest basketball player of all time do it every single night, I respect that. It's very humbling."

Like most NBA players, James feels that the city itself will be one of the major selling points for any free agent this summer.

"Chicago's a great city," he said. "I think we all know that. It's one of the best cities that we have in America. From a lifestyle to a sports town, to everything, it's a great city. I know that. You guys know that. I think everybody knows that."

As to the question of whether the Bulls’ future is bright, the MVP of the league had this to say:

"Absolutely," James said. "Derrick Rose, being a first-time All-Star this year, he's an unbelievable talent. Unfortunately, he has a wrist injury right now and their team has a lot of injuries, but I think Taj Gibson is a bright spot for those guys. Joakim Noah is a bright spot. Luol Deng ... They have a lot of great pieces. And when they were all healthy they were playing great. Remember the West Coast trip that they had? They had an unbelievable West Coast trip when they were all healthy."

That seems like a lifetime ago, considering all the injuries the Bulls have dealt with.

"It's hard," James said of the health issues. "When you have four guys out of the starting lineup, I don't know if any team can recover from that having four starters sitting out in the course of a season."

As the Bulls have proven over the last three weeks, it's clear that they certainly can't.

They could sure use James' presence in the lineup next season, but if you were reading between the lines of his comments, he certainly didn't say he was coming to Chicago next summer. Bulls fans may just have to settle for watching him torture their favorite team twice every season for the next decade.

Rose may return Saturday: After missing four straight games because of a strained wrist, Rose is hoping to get back on the floor Saturday night when the Bulls take on the Philadelphia 76ers.

"Hopefully [Saturday]," he said after the game. "Before [Friday's] game I was shooting well, but dribbling was kind of hard. Right now I see that we're down. I'm going to try to push for [Saturday]. I'll basically be a right-handed player throughout the game. But I'm going to try to play."

Quote of the night: Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro on the rash of injuries that have hit his club: "It's definitely March Madness, but it has nothing to do with college basketball around here. It's tough. It's maddening, but I can't control those things. Derrick, Joakim, Luol, they all want to be out there. We want to get back to playing the way we're capable of, but that's not going to happen now for a little while."