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Will he or won’t he?

It was the story again before the Bulls played the Knicks Tuesday regarding Derrick Rose.

Rose sustained a sprained ankle early in Sunday’s overtime loss, and was pronounced a game-time decision for Tuesday. Yes, again.

So is this something to worry about long term?

Does the team have to monitor Rose more carefully, given he said he probably worsened the injury by continuing to play with it Sunday, just as he did with his groin injury against the Knicks in early March?

Should the team put Rose on a playing time limit like it did with Joakim Noah a few years back?

Is it global warming?

These were all questions floating around the team as Rose was out on the floor before the game practicing like he would play. He shot, he went through defensive drills, he didn’t smile.

Should Rose play against the Knicks after sustained a sprained ankle, even if it’s not considered particularly serious and Rose, at least, apparently was talking before the game about wanting to play?

What about Thursday with a game against Miami in the United Center that would seem to mean more for Eastern Conference seeding?

Or what about skipping Miami as the Bulls have two days off after that before starting a four games in five days stretch with a game in Miami a week from Thursday? Better to get Rose some more rest and as healthy as possible for the last two weeks before the playoffs? Or get him playing more with the team now given how long he’s been out?

The questions didn’t have many answers as coach Tom Thibodeau was evasive before the game as it didn’t seem he was quite certain what was about to occur.

“He’s going to warm up and well see where he is,” said Thibodeau. “You just deal with (the injuries). It’s unfortunate, but we feel good about the guys we have. We feel we have more than enough to win with.

“You just deal with it the best you can,” said Thibodeau. “From what our medical people are saying they (injuries) are not related at all. They are all separate injuries. Sometimes you have that. It’s just the way it goes. You deal with it as best you can. He’s been very diligent with his rehab, so hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later

“He’s missed well over 20 games; Rip (Hamilton) has missed more,” Thibodeau noted. “We’ve dealt with it all season long. We feel great about our depth. We’ll deal with it accordingly. We prefer to have everybody, but our bench is great.”

And perhaps we’ll find out again Tuesday how great.

The answer: He won’t.

The Bulls listed Rose as inactive and not in uniform, and thus unable to play.

So the debate continues now to Wednesday and Thursday. Here’s the headline for the next two days: Rose game time decision for Miami.

Get me a rewrite!