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San Antonio Spurs: Pros and cons of signing Derrick Rose

By Simon Smith

Nov 25, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose (25) shoots a free throw during the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Madison Square Garden. New York Knicks won 113-111. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose (25) shoots a free throw during the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Madison Square Garden. New York Knicks won 113-111. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /

Arguments against signing Derrick Rose

The No. 1 argument against signing Rose is his body. An initial ACL tear during the 2011-12 season followed by several other surgeries on his other knee have taken their toll on Rose over the years. In fact, since his initial ACL tear, Rose has missed 219 of a possible 410 regular season games.

So naturally, the Spurs, or any team for that matter, are going to have serious concerns when considering Rose as a serious addition to their franchise. Soon to be 29 and having not completed close to a full season since his MVP season of 2010-11 (81 games), the risks are substantive.

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Assuming Pau Gasol opts-in to the second year of his contract, signing Rose will certainly require some offloading of other contracts to ensure the Spurs come under the leagues salary cap. This means the likes of Jonathon Simmons, Manu Ginobili and the rest of San Antonio’s free agents would need to be renounced, along with possibly LaMarcus Aldridge, Danny Green or Gasol (assuming he opts in) being moved to accommodate Rose’s incoming salary.

But back to Rose’s game. One glaring weakness that Rose possesses which stands out in the modern-day NBA is his three-point shooting. This season, Rose shot an awful 21.7 percent from three-point range on just 0.9 attempts per game. For his career, Rose has shot 29.8 percent from downtown. With the importance of the three-point only going to increase moving forward, this represents a huge red flag from the Spurs’ point of view.

Another ramification of Rose’s history of knee problems is how it’s affected him on the defensive end. This season, Rose had a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 111.1, while the Knicks as a team had a rating of 108.7. The Spurs, meanwhile, led the league with a rating of 100.9 (Knicks ranked 25th). With the Spurs, Popovich and defense running hand-in-hand, Rose is clearly an outlier in this department.

So in essence, a combination of substandard three-point shooting, a lack of durability, seemingly shaky defense and the massive financial ramifications are all important issues in which the Spurs will need to heavily consider when evaluating Rose.

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