NBA: Is Derrick Rose Worth $150 Million?
Derrick Rose’s career is at a crossroads; he’s doing better than he used to, but he’s no longer at the superstar level he was from 2010-2012. Rose won the NBA MVP in 2011 and was the youngest player to ever win the award (22-years-old). An ACL injury in the 2012 NBA playoffs hindered Rose’s career, causing him to miss all of the 2012-13 NBA season and 72 games of the following 2013-14 season. The next two seasons marked Rose’s full return to the NBA, but he missed 45 games those two seasons and he wasn’t the same player as he was before the ACL injury. In the summer of 2016, Rose was traded to the New York Knicks, and as of now, is showing flashes of his old self. Rose is averaging 17.5 points per game while shooting exactly 45 percent from the floor. Rose’s play on the court also has him thinking about the future; with a $150 million salary extension that he would want to sign this summer. But, when Rose disappeared earlier this week and missed the Knicks’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans, many have questioned whether or not Rose is not only cut out for the Knicks, but is he cut out to be a max player?
Rose claims that he had to deal with a family issue, but he also said that he contemplated retirement. Rose’a frustrations could be that he isn’t the same player that fans remember from 2011, a player that won the NBA MVP award. Rose is turning 29-years-old in October, and he isn’t getting any younger. So the question is, when Rose asks for the max deal, will he try to stay in New York for the long term? Or will look somewhere else?
According to this ESPN article, Rose ideally wants to stay in New York for a long time. The question is, has he jeopardized his chances to get his $150 million extension? It’s a good chance that it could go either way.
“Before this incident, Rose made it clear he’d welcome a long-term deal with New York. The Knicks were said to be keeping an open mind about a long-term relationship with Rose, but the trust that has eroded between the point guard and the organization will surely factor into any decision the club makes.
“Members of the organization used the word ’embarrassment’ to describe how the Rose ordeal played out Monday night.
“And then there is the potential price tag. Some close to Rose have told friends he will seek a max contract this summer. For Rose, that pact would be for five years and nearly $150 million.
“The Knicks would need to use nearly all of their cap space to ink Rose to a max contract.”
With his disappearance and no intention to announce his whereabouts, Rose put his career, and his place with the team, in jeopardy. If Rose wants to be a max player, he has to do the things that other max players do. Maximum contract players are the unquestioned leaders of their teams. For the Knicks, Rose is their point guard and floor general. It’s going to be a hard job for the Knicks to fully trust him again.
On the bright side, the good news is that Rose’s basketball play is getting better. Although he isn’t the same player that he once was, Rose is showing on the court that he can become a max player soon. But if Rose’s behavior off the court doesn’t change, it will be difficult for him to garner that deal that he so greatly wants for himself.
[Featured Image by Rob Carr/Getty Images]
