Why the Minnesota Timberwolves should stay away from Derrick Rose
The Minnesota Timberwolves view Derrick Rose as a free agent option, but with three point guards signed through 2019, there is little reason for the move.
Back in late April of 2016, the Minnesota Timberwolves entrusted Tom Thibodeau — popular for his successful tenure with the Chicago Bulls — with the task of leading the much maligned franchise out of mediocrity. Minnesota is in the midst of a 13-year playoff drought. The franchise was constantly in the NBA Draft Lottery as a result, landing a total of 10(!!) top-10 picks over that span.
Derrick Rose had his best season in quite some time in New York, trying to match the superstar production that he has failed to conjure up under since his tutelage in the school-of-Thibodeau. While D-Rose and Thibs both had varying degrees of success this year (depending on who you talk to) two alarming things happened to the young T-Wolves squad:
1. They actually worsened their defensive rating, allowing an additional 1.9 points per 100 possessions (when compared to 2015-16)
2. They made and attempted the least three-pointers in the league.
These two issues would hurt any team in any era. But in today’s NBA, it is almost impossible to win without a serviceable perimeter offense. That makes it all the more laughable that, per ESPN.com, Minnesota is interested in the signing point guard Derrick Rose.
First of all, Rose is still a capable scoring guard. And he actually showed signs of life this past year. As a New York Knick, Rose averaged 18 points per game on the third-best shooting percentage of his career (47.1 percent). As a native Chicagoan, I can understand Thibs’ interest in the only MVP-winner he worked with as a head coach. However, what I can’t understand is why he wants Rose for this iteration of his T-Wolves team. And there are three simple reasons why I can’t wrap my head around this rumor.
1. Derrick Rose recently said “I want to win.”
Before going into the strictly basketball-related reasons , I wanted to start off by reminding readers that Rose has made it clear where his priorities lie. Consider this quote from Rose reported by ESPN.com’s Ian Begley:
"“…..Not even thinking money. I’ve got more than enough money saved. If I stopped playing basketball now, I’ll be all right….I’m not going to negotiate with people where money is the No. 1 thing I’m asking for. I want to win.”"
The scary part of that statement is “If I stopped playing basketball now, I’ll be all right.” Of course Rose was referring to the financial side of things. But statements like that support the theory that Rose is slowly losing passion for the game after dealing with multiple season-ending injuries. More important in the present is the fact that Rose sounds like he may be looking to ring chase in the twilight of his career, and who could blame him?
Rose is likely to give any contenders who come after him priority when it comes to signing him. No amount of Thibodeau-magic can convince Rose that the Wolves — as currently constructed — are sniffing anywhere near title contention.
2. He just had the worst three-point shooting season of his career…
Derrick Rose has always been known as the prototypical “drive-and-kick” point guard. But following his second season in the league, he continued to aggressively work on being at least an average three-point shooter. But look at his three-point shooting numbers for his career:
Rose has all but abandoned the three-point shot. You almost can’t blame him when you see his ghastly percentages from deep. But as a point guard you need to at least be able to keep defenses honest.
While Rose would surely be potent on the break with Wiggins and Towns, he would also clog the lane tremendously as another non-shooter on a roster bereft of floor-spacing. Defenses would guard him the exact same way they do Ricky Rubio, sagging deep into the paint (and Karl-Anthony Towns‘ lap) while daring Rose to shoot.
At the end of the season Rubio actually found his range later in the season. He hit 43.9 percent of his three-pointers in the month of March, and finished the season at 30.6 percent from three-point range. Signing Rose — whether to be Rubio’s backup or replace him — would be a step in the wrong direction for an offense that made significant strides this year.
3. And he is coming off of arguably the worst defensive season of his career…
Derrick Rose is not known for lockdown defense. Even at his peak, he simply managed to use his strength and athleticism to be a decent defender. Now Rose gets beat off the dribble a maddening number of times, and the video below is literally one of many videos I was deciding between that shows how inconsistent Rose’s effort can be on defense.
It would really make no sense for the Wolves to add Rose after a season where they finished with a bottom-three defensive field goal percentage — especially considering last year they drafted Kris Dunn with the fifth pick in the draft.
Dunn’s rookie year was by no means spectacular, but he showed off some defensive prowess. Rubio has finished in the top-10 in steals per game two years running. Rubio gets the benefit of the doubt because he actually helps his team generate turnovers.
Rose, on the other hand, just completed 2016-17 giving up 115 points per 100 possessions, and swiping 44 steals in 64 games, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
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Rose would be a nice addition for a team in need of some athleticism and scoring from the lead guard spot. A player of his ability can still step right into a lineup with good shooters and make things happen. But for a Minnesota franchise whose team’s biggest weakness were shooting and defense, Derrick Rose is the last player you would want to sign.