NBA: 5 Teams That Should Trade For Derrick Rose
With the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline approaching, here’s a look at five potential Derrick Rose trades that will probably never happen.
The Chicago Bulls‘ 2015-16 season has been an unmitigated disaster, regardless of the fact that they’d be in the playoffs if the postseason began today.
The arrival of head coach Fred Hoiberg was supposed to revamp Tom Thibodeau’s underwhelming offense, yet the Bulls rank 26th in offensive rating. Chicago was supposed to be the main threat to the reign of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East, yet the Bulls sit at seventh in the conference standings and have lost 13 of their last 18 games.
This was supposed to be the year the Bulls were all in for a title, but a possible season-ending injury for Joakim Noah, not to mention Jimmy Butler‘s knee injury that will sideline him for 3-4 weeks, could even put Chicago out of the playoff picture.
With Pau Gasol hitting free agency this summer, Butler’s injury and the team’s recent 5-13 skid fresh in the front office’s minds, the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline provides a tempting opportunity for the Bulls to abort a potentially lost season and start planning for a future that revolves around Jimmy Buckets, Nikola Mirotic and rookie Bobby Portis.
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If that’s the case, finding a way to do the unthinkable and trade former MVP Derrick Rose might be the first step.
To be clear, there have been no legitimate reports of a possible trade involving D-Rose before the Feb. 18 trade deadline, nor does anyone expect one to surface in the coming days. Rose still has another year and $21.3 million left on his contract after this season, so the Bulls may decide to eat that money and put off the decision of what to do with their franchise point guard until next year.
But Rose’s production comes nowhere near the value of his salary, making him one of the league’s most overpaid players. This season, Rose is averaging a career low 15.9 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game on 40.8 percent shooting from the field and 25.5 percent shooting from three-point range.
Over the last few weeks, however, Rose has quietly been reviving his on-court value, averaging 18.1 points, 4.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game on an improved 43.6 percent shooting. He’s still a renowned NBA brand all by himself, a fan favorite and the face of a franchise. For a team desperate for a point guard, taking a chance on a lightning rod like Rose might be appealing.
Derrick Rose won’t be traded before this year’s trade deadline, but there are plenty who are curious about what Rose might be able to do if he were given the reins to his own team again. Though there are legitimate concerns about his durability, Rose has been surprisingly healthy over the last twos seasons, making it through the playoffs last year and playing in 45 of Chicago’s 52 games so far this year.
Trading Rose would be a harsh blow to the fan base. It’d be a silent waving of the white flag and closing of the window to the era of the most popular Bulls player since Michael Jordan.
That alone would make a D-Rose trade depressing, but it’d also allow Chicago to shed Rose’s massive salary, potentially bring in an asset or two from a desperate team and fully transition into the Jimmy Butler era — whether that means completely blowing it up or simply retooling for a playoff run.
With nothing but time to kill before the trade deadline, here’s a look at some Derrick Rose trades that will never happen, but actually make some sense for both the Bulls and whatever team would be adding the former MVP.
Next: Honorable Mentions