Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose was rarely ever a positive presence on defense

On the defensive end of the floor alone, there wasn’t much that point guard Derrick Rose did to help the Chicago Bulls in the early days of his career.

While the offensive presence that former Chicago Bulls superstar point guard and the 2010-11 MVP award winner Derrick Rose provided for this team was undeniable back in the day, he was also usually a net negative on the other end of the floor. The offensive contributions definitely overshadowed any neutral or net negative presence D-Rose provided on the defensive end of the floor, but it is still worth nothing when reviewing his all encompassing advanced metrics from his entire career.

There were only two seasons in which D-Rose finished up with a defensive box plus/minus rating in the positive. Compare that with his offensive box plus/minus rating season-by-season that was only in the negative on three occasions and you arrive at a pretty volatile connection in his two-way production. When he took the MVP honors back to the Windy City during the 2010-11 season, Rose even led the NBA in offensive box plus/minus at 6.3.

And while it is notoriously difficult for some guards in the system ran by former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau to finish a season with more offensive than defensive win shares, he’s only had more on the defensive end three times. Rose has roughly 25 offensive win shares for his career compared to 16 on defense. He also has a career offensive box plus minus rating of 2.6 compared to -1.2 on defense.

The discrepancy between Rose’s offensive and defensive rating is notable too. He has a career 106 offensive rating/110 defensive rating.

Moreover, looking back on the numbers that Rose posted on defense when he was on the floor for the Bulls did seem to hold the team back. Solely speaking to that end of the floor, the Bulls were better usually with Rose on the bench. During the 2011-12 season for example, the Bulls allowed an offensive rating of 100 to their opposition compared to 96.9 when he was on the bench.

As time went along, the difference in defensive play for the Bulls as a team when Rose was on the floor compared to when he was off continued to widen. They allowed an opposition offensive rating above 105 when Rose was on the floor during the 2013-14 season, but around 100 when he was off.

The reason for this discrepancy can usually be found in the lack of team steal and block percentage while Rose was on the floor compared to off. For example, during the 2013-14 campaign the Bulls posted a 8.4 block percentage when he was off compared to 6.6 when he was on. They also posted an 8.0 steal percentage when he was off compared to 7.2 on. Even the defensive rebounding percentage that season had a three percent rise for the Bulls when he was on the bench.

Even in the modern day, the Bulls have a weird mix of defensive liabilities and stoppers in their backcourt rotation. Although they are set to hit the restricted free agent market this offseason, shooting guard Denzel Valentine and point guard Kris Dunn boast opposite skill sets. Shooting guard Zach LaVine is really improving on both ends of the floor in the last few years as far as his numbers show, despite the thoughts of his defensive critics.

Rose started to bounce back last season, playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves. His days in the mid-to-late 2010’s with the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers did not go well, as his box plus/minus rating was at the lowest point of his career at those two stops.

He’s averaged at least 18 points per game in each of the last two seasons with the Timberwolves and the Bulls divisional foe Detroit Pistons. He’s also got his box plus/minus rating up around 2.0 for the last two seasons, but he is back to his usual ways with a negative defensive box plus/minus rating and large discrepancy between offensive and defensive rating.

Rose posted his best box plus/minus rating and number of win shares per 48 minutes in each of the last two seasons in the Twin Cities and Motor City that he had since the 2011-12 season with the Bulls. He’s doing well and it’s good to see him rebound and get back to his old ways.