Should the Charlotte Hornets Go After Derrick Rose?

The 35-year-old was recently waived by the Grizzlies

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Once the youngest MVP in league history on an up-and-coming Chicago Bulls squad, Derrick Rose sustained an ACL tear in the opening round of the 2011-12 postseason. When he finally came back from said injury after spending a whole year in rehab, he lasted ten games before tearing the meniscus in his right knee.

That was eleven years ago - Since then, Rose has suffered another handful of noticeable injuries and his rise to stardom took a permanent halt as a result. The exceptional athleticism that had set the Chicago native apart vanished. It took the former Rookie of the Year until 2018 to reinvent his game, but he did. The result were three consecutive seasons where he ended up in Sixth Man of the Year discussions, albeit never winning the award. Most recently, Rose was brought into Memphis, to provide experience to a young Grizzlies squad and star guard Ja Morant in particular.

Could "D-Rose" help the Hornets?

It's hard to determine what kind of player the three-time All-Star is at this point in his career. He hasn't played more than 27 games in any of the last three seasons. On the rare occasions when he did suit up, he didn't look great. Rose, a prolific slasher and finisher around the rim back in the day, now converts a well below-league-average percentage of his layups. He's also not much of a marksman, sinking just 36.6% of his 1.7 three-pointers per game last year, and relying heavily on others to create outside shots for him.

Defensively, the 6'3" point guard faired ok for his size but tended to get lost at times when navigating screens. On top of the small sample size, it's also important to remember that Memphis had an incredibly injury-riddled season and was forced to constantly change up their rotations, making it tough for anybody to excel on the defensive end.

The Verdict

Charlotte's guard room is nowhere near perfect, but bringing in Derrick Rose won't solve any of the major problems at hand. The biggest issue with the Hornets' backcourt is the defense, which never was Rose's calling card, and proceeded to take a noticeable hit in Memphis. If he would still be the kind of inside finisher he was a few years ago, it would be a different story, but as of now, he wouldn't provide any notable advantage on offense either.

Even if D-Rose can put together one more good year out of nowhere, the risk of him getting injured again is too large. Maybe Chicago is willing to take a flyer on one of the best players in their recent history, but there is no reason for Jeff Peterson and Co. to do so.

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