Charles Rex Arbogast

Injured Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose won't have to wait for the start of the 2014-15 NBA season to experience some seriously competitive basketball. All he has to do is prove himself.

On Wednesday, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said that Rose will be given a chance to compete for a spot on the U.S. roster for this summer's 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, provided he is healthy enough to compete. Per the Associated Press' Brian Mahoney:

I think he needs to find out just where he is physically. So he is welcome to come to our camp, he is welcome to show us where he is. I think if nothing else, worst-case scenario, he practices and sees that he's either not ready or he is ready. And if he's ready, he has a chance to make the team.

Rose hasn't played in a game since a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 22. He had surgery soon after to repair torn cartilage in his right knee, and the Bulls said he would miss the rest of the season.

This season was supposed to be a glorious comeback for the 2010-11 MVP, who has seen his career derailed by a variety of knee problems. He tore the ACL in his left knee in May 2012 and missed the entire 2012-13 season.

Though Rose was a member of the USA team that won the gold medal at the 2010 World Cup in Turkey, there's no guarantee he will win a spot on the 2014 squad.

According to Mahoney, USA will mostly likely be sending an extremely talented, experienced team to the tournament, which will be held in Spain from Aug. 30 to Sept. 14:

The U.S. should have a much stronger team than the one that won the world championship four years ago. The 28-player roster pool the Americans named in January includes a number of players who competed there or in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

But even if Rose doesn't win a spot on the team, the Bulls seem to think he would benefit from participating in the tryouts. Per Mahoney, Colangelo said the Bulls are encouraging him to participate. It should be noted that Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is one of the assistant coaches of Team USA.

If Rose is healthy, there's no reason he shouldn't at least participate in Team USA's training camp. He hasn't played a full season of basketball since 2011-12, and he displayed a great deal of rust during his 10-game, pre-injury cameo last season. A successful training camp would help Rose hit the ground running going into the NBA preseason.