San Antonio Spurs: Pros and cons of signing Derrick Rose

Arguments for signing Derrick Rose

There were plenty of signs throughout the course of this season to indicate that Rose still has plenty to offer moving forward.

One indication was Rose’s drives per game. Known for his blinding quickness prior to his series of horrible knee injuries, Rose’s ability to drive into the heart of the defense and attack the defense was more and more evident this season. Over the course of the season, Rose averaged 10.0 drives per game, ranking him 11th overall in the league.

In contrast, the Spurs as a team averaged just 25.4 per game, ranking them 22nd amongst all teams. This was led by Tony Parker with 7.5 per game. With Parker out, this area will clearly need to addressed. Parker’s backup, Patty Mills, averaged just 1.8 drives per game this season.

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Dunking with Wolves

Tying in with Rose’s impressive driving numbers are his shooting numbers close to the rim. Over the season, Rose averaged 7.1 attempts per game less than five feet from the rim, ranking him 11th overall in the league. As a team, the Spurs averaged just 25.0 shot attempts per game within five feet of the rim, ranking them 29th overall.

Despite completing an impression season statistically, Rose had his lowest usage rate since his rookie season at 25.6 per game. This can primarily be due to the presence of the Knicks’ frontcourt duo of Carmelo Anthony (29.0) and Kristaps Porzingis (24.4).

By way of comparison, Rose had a usage rate of 31.9 in his MVP season of 2010-11. This season, Rose had just two games of with a usage rate greater than this mark. However, Rose did manage to have eight games with a usage rate of at least 29.5. During these games, Rose averaged 25.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 35.5 minutes per game. Furthermore, shot 45.2 percent from the field and 92.6 percent from the free throw line.

While this is a short sample size, it certainly indicates that Rose its still more than capable of producing at a high level. Impressively, six of these eight games came against teams that participated in this season’s playoffs, including the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

An area in which Rose excelled this season was shooting from the midrange (between 15-19 feet). Over the season, Rose converted at an excellent 47.7 percent clip from this area of the court. Of the 34 players in the league who averaged at least 2.4 attempts per game from this range, Rose finished with the seventh-best conversion rate.

Rose’s most impressive game this season came during a road win against Eastern Conference finalist, the Boston Celtics. Playing 33 minutes, Rose posted 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. The highlights from this vintage Rose performance can be seen here:

As can be seen, Rose demonstrated his full arsenal on the offensive end – commanding drives to the rim to finish, pull-up jumpers, step-back jumpers and precision passes. Furthermore, it comes as no surprise that Rose had his highest usage rate for the season – 39.6.

Following this performance, Celtics’ center Al Horford stated succinctly:

"“He can still play, and he reminded us of that tonight.”"

In essence, Rose provides a point of difference for the Spurs. With his attacking nature (77.0 percent of his field goals made this season were unassisted) and being just 29 entering next season, combining Rose’s greatest strengths with the ever-evolving offensive system led by head coach Gregg Popovich and his staff represents a tantalizing prospect.

In summary, a Rose-Spurs partnership could prove to be one of the more inspired moves of the summer.