Heading into 2017 NBA free agency, which teams might consider signing the injury-prone Derrick Rose? Here’s a look at five potential destinations.
For those Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks diehards still living in 2011, it’s time for an unfortunate newsflash: Derrick Rose is not a very good basketball player anymore.
Heading into 2017 NBA free agency, you can expect his impending contract negotiations to reflect that during his unrestricted free agency.
Whether it’s because of his latest season-ending knee injury, the negative headlines that have hovered overhead for years now, the projected NBA salary cap shrinking from $102 million to $99 million, or the fact that Rose is no longer a star player, any max deal the former MVP once envisioned couldn’t be further from reality.
To be fair, Rose isn’t completely washed up. Last season in New York, he averaged 18.0 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. He shot a respectable 47.1 percent from the field and can still penetrate past the outer layer of defenses to create for himself and for others.
However, his three-point shot is a bigger Achilles heel than Rose’s heels (and probably knees) that may as well have been borrowed from Achilles himself. Rose shot a putrid 21.7 percent from deep last year, and even though he only attempted 0.9 of them per game, his defense would have made bullfighters proud and the off-court distractions made him a bigger headache than he was worth.
The question is, as he approaches free agency this summer, which teams have a need at point guard dire enough to consider investing in a risky proposition like Rose? At a discounted rate, Rose could be a quality backup or even a serviceable starter in the right environment, so here’s a look at five teams that might not be deterred by all the baggage.