Chicago Bulls star guard Derrick Rose has been cleared to participate in non-contact drills during team practice sessions.

ESPN reports the former league MVP began working out with teammates this week, though team officials still insist he will not return to play this season.

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"Yeah, yeah, he's doing that; he's moving along fine," coach Tom Thibodeau told ESPN. "He has picked it up a little bit. He's doing well."

Just 10 games into the season, Rose tore his right meniscus, sidelining him for a second straight season. The 25-year-old All-Star guard missed all of the 2012 season rehabbing from a torn ACL.

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With the playoffs just around the corner the Bulls are not expected to hold any scrimmages at practice this late in the season, rendering the earliest time Rose take part in any contact workouts sometime this summer during the USA Basketball trials for the World Cup team he has been selected to compete for.

"You know, we're not practicing real long this time of the year, but all the non-contact stuff he's doing," Thibodeau told ESPN..

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