Rose, Hinrich, Pargo will sit; Tyrus to start

Here are the basics from the United Center, where the Bulls finish the preseason against the Washington Wizards on Friday:

--Derrick Rose (ankle), Kirk Hinrich (elbow) and Jannero Pargo (hip) won’t play. Rose said he wasn’t sore this morning after practicing Thursday for the first time in nearly three weeks. He expects to be close to 100 percent by next Thursday when the Bulls host San Antonio for the regular season opener.

“I felt good, wasn’t sore (on Friday morning),” Rose said before the game. “If anything, it was stiff. Hopefully I’ll be back out there at least close to 100 percent. I’m still not that explosive yet, but it’s coming.”

Pargo said his injury has shown great improvement with a couple days off and vowed to practice Sunday. The Bulls will most likely get Saturday off.

--Veteran Lindsey Hunter will start at point guard tonight. Tyrus Thomas is listed as the starter at power forward, joining Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and John Salmons.

Here’s Vinny Del Negro’s pregame take on the short-handed point guard situation for this game:

“Guys are in there right now, just trying to give (Hunter) a gallon of Flex-All to get going,” Del Negro said. “But he’ll do fine. Lindsey’s a competitor; he’s been in the league; he’s a tough guy. He’ll compete and play hard.

“Maybe John Salmons will get a look at the point. Maybe James Johnson handles the ball a little bit, Derrick Byars a little bit. We’ll just kind of by committee get it figured out as we go on.”

--I asked Hunter in the locker room if he’s ready to play 48 minutes tonight and he joked that he doesn’t play 48 minutes in any kind of game.

Bulls advance scout Chris Thomas was standing nearby and had a good line: “He doesn’t even play Monopoly for 48 minutes.”

--Washington will play its usual lineup, without veteran power forward Antawn Jamison, who is out with a partially dislocated shoulder. Former Spur Fabricio Oberto will start in his place.

The Wizards originally thought Jamison would only miss preseason with this injury, but recently announced he’ll be sidelined a few more weeks and miss the start of the regular season.

--Here's something I didn't know: Longtime NBA point guard Sam Cassell is working under Flip Saunders on the Wizards' coaching staff.