On Monday, it was announced that former Chicago Bulls point guard and 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose would be signing a one-year deal to play with the Cleveland Cavaliers next season.
Who would’ve thought after Derrick Rose signed a max extension with the Chicago Bulls after his MVP season in 2011 that when he finally hit free agency, he would join LeBron James on a minimum contract? Nobody.
But, that’s exactly what he is doing.
Rose met with Cleveland officials in Ohio Monday face-to-face after discussing deals with them and the Los Angeles Lakers last week.
Shortly after the meeting concluded Monday afternoon, Shams Charania of The Vertical reported that Rose would sign with the Cavs on a one-year, minimum ($2.1-$2.3) million deal. Chris B. Haynes, Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN all confirmed Charania’s report.
Derrick Rose has committed to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers and completed his physical exam today, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 24, 2017
In his eighth season, Rose played his first season not for his hometown Bulls team. In what some consider a bounce-back season, Rose played on the New York Knicks and averaged 18 points (highest since his post-MVP year), 3.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 0.7 steals and 2.3 turnovers per game, while shooting 47.1 percent from the field (highest since his MVP year) in 64 games.
His offensive plus-minus average per 100 possessions was 0.3, but his defensive plus-minus average per 100 possessions was -2.2, making his total plus-minus -1.9. His VORP (value over replacement player) was an even 0. It was a bounce-back year, but he still showed that he struggled defensively, wasn’t a top-10 point guard in the league) and still isn’t a great 3-point shooter, as he shot just 13-of-60 from deep in 2016-17.
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He showed, especially in the last three years, that he has a mid-range game, shooting 44.5 percent from 10 feet to inside the 3-point line. He showed the ability to get to the paint and finish, scoring a career high 10.1 points in the paint, and averaged four free throw attempts per game while shooting 87.4 percent from the line.
Rose wasn’t his MVP-self last year, but he still showed he has a lot of ability to get to the rim and finish, even dunking a number of times.
The elephant in the room is the fact that Rose joined the Bulls’ most bitter rival, not for money or ring-chasing (though it’s probably mostly for ring chasing), and not even to play with LeBron, but just to play ball. It’ll be interesting to see if Rose gels with LeBron, (who had to have approved of this move) who has beaten Rose in the playoffs three times, not to mention also beating the Bulls while Rose was out for the season with his infamously torn ACL.
If Rose can play off-ball more and shoot more as a spot-up shooter (he shot 5-of-11 on corner spot-ups last season) and gain a bit more of his MVP form back, Rose and James could make a nice duo. Rose will likely get some boos when he returns to the United Center, but there still be mostly applause and cheers, though less than last year now that he chose to sign with the team that has the player the entire city hates.
Rose’s role isn’t clear with the Kyrie Irving trade rumors, but if Irving stays, Rose will either start with him and/or be the second unit point guard.
Next: Kyrie Irving had real interest in playing with Jimmy Butler before the trade
Whatever role he plays, I wish him luck in Cleveland. Maybe he can win a title there, or join LeBron in Los Angeles or Houston in 2018 if they gel and win with him then.