Are the Lakers Selling Derrick Rose on a Starting Spot?
While the belief is the Lakers are looking at Derrick Rose as a backup for Lonzo Ball, there’s a good chance he starts over him.
The Los Angeles Lakers got off to a surprisingly solid start in free agency, signing one of the most coveted free agents on the market in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. However, like most signings, there were a few casualties in the process, namely second-year guard David Nwaba, who was waived to make room for KCP’s one-year, $18 million deal with the Lakers.
After waiving Nwaba, the Lakers technically have three roster spots, though rookie Thomas Bryant is expected to sign with the team any day now after a nice showing at Las Vegas Summer League. Realistically, the Lakers have two roster spots, and they will use at least one of those roster spots on a backup veteran point guard to mentor No. 2 overall pick Lonzo Ball in his first year in the league, according to multiple reports.
What constitutes a “veteran” on a young team like the Lakers is tricky. At Caldwell-Pope’s introductory press conference on Tuesday, he was asked what his experience brings to the table, which made Magic Johnson laugh.
“I’m laughing, you’re old at five years in the league. That’s, like, crazy to me,” Johnson said.
With that being said, it’s clear the front office had more seasoned players in mind. The Lakers were rumored to have “expressed serious interest” in Rajon Rondo before he inked a one-year, $3.3 million deal with the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
They also met with Ian Clark, who played under Luke Walton during his time with the Golden State Warriors. The meeting lasted 45 minutes, according to Mark Medina of the OC Register, but both sides left without striking a deal.
Despite the handful of meetings, the biggest news to come out of the organization this week involves a former MVP (no, not that one).
According to ESPN’s Chris Haynes and Ramona Shelburne, the Lakers met with the NBA’s 2011 Most Valuable Player, Derrick Rose, on Thursday. The meeting lasted three hours, according to the same report, and “went well,” according to Brad Turner of the LA Times. Earlier that day, Rose was reportedly “in serious talks” to join the Cleveland Cavaliers on a one-year deal.
The 28-year-old point guard from the Windy City is coming off his best statistical year since the 2011–12 season, where he played only 39 games, putting up averages of 18 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. He was the Knicks’ third-leading scorer, only trailing Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis.
It was also one of Rose’s best seasons from a health standpoint. Rose has only played more than 60 games five times in his nine-year career, with two of those times being the last two seasons. Last season with the Knicks, he played 64 games before going down with a torn meniscus in his left knee in early April. However, when Rose was on the floor last season, he looked more like the Derrick Rose of old. Kinda.
During the month of March, Rose put up 19.8 points, 4.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting above 50 percent from the field, something only two other players can say they were able to sniff that month: LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Now that’s not saying Rose is the type of player James, a four-time MVP, or Antetokounmpo, an MVP candidate, is currently, but it shows that he isn’t as washed as some might believe him to be. In fact, all signs point to Rose having another productive season, barring any injuries.
So why would he sign with the Lakers?
For starters, the Lakers can pay him more than any team rumored to have serious interest in him, particularly the Cavaliers, who can only offer Rose the veterans minimum worth $2.1 million. The Lakers, using their mid-level exception, can offer Rose nearly double that.
Sure, it might not be enough to sway Rose from joining a team that will more than likely be making their fourth consecutive appearance in the Finals this year, but for someone who was reportedly expecting max money in January, it’s something.
Aside from the money, the Lakers can offer something the Cavaliers can’t — or won’t — and that’s the opportunity to crack the starting lineup.
While all signs point to Lonzo Ball being the team’s franchise point guard for at least the next decade, there’s reason to believe Ball won’t be handed the keys from day one, despite strong endorsement from Magic Johnson.
Last year, when the Lakers drafted Brandon Ingram with No. 2 pick, it was assumed he would start right away. The Lakers weren’t realistically competing for a playoff spot and Luol Deng was going to get paid his $17 million annual salary whether he started or not. There was no real reason not to start him.
However, Walton had different plans, which included easing him into the starting lineup slowly.
“No player has ever been through that until you get to the NBA,” Walton told Mark Media of Los Angeles Daily News. “It’s exhausting until your body gets used to it and adjusts to it. It takes time. The biggest challenge for him will be figuring out the best way to manage that, still train and take care of himself. The on-court stuff and his play will be just fine. It’ll be the challenge of the 82-game season he might struggle with.”
Due to a few early-season injuries, Ingram would crack the starting lineup as early as November, but it wasn’t until early February that he started to see regular starter minutes. Walton broke down his process of dealing with Ingram his rookie season in an interview on the Lowe Post Podcast with ESPN’s Zach Lowe.
“I’m a big fan of competition and earning your spots,” Walton said. “It’s why it took Brandon [Ingram] so long to get into the starting lineup last year, because I want him with the pride and that feeling of ‘I earned this starting spot,’ and now — hopefully in his mind — ‘I’m never giving this spot up, because I took this.’”
What’s stopping Walton from doing the same with Ball? Granted, Ball showed a lot more during his Las Vegas Summer League stint than Ingram did his rookie season, but there are more similarities between Ball and Ingram than there are differences.
For example, despite having impressive measurements for their respective positions, both Ball and Ingram are very thin compared to their peers. This noticeably effected Ball’s play during summer league, much like it effected Ingram his rookie season, as he struggled getting to the rim and scoring and had a hard time going under screens on the defensive end.
As Ball gets used to the physicality of the NBA game — going up against the likes of Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard in the Western Conference—Rose could be the Lakers’ starting point guard.
On the surface, it doesn’t sound too exciting, but when you start to break it down it’s…still not all that exciting. As much as Rose made strides toward becoming a starting-caliber point guard again last season, the flaws to his game are as clear as they were five years ago.
He’s never been a threat from outside and last season was no exception, as he shot a career-low 21.7 percent from behind the arc on a career-low sixty 3-point attempts. His reasoning for not shooting the 3-ball? Playoffs.
“I’m trying to put pieces of my game together,” Rose told Laura Albanese of Newsday. “You see I’m not shooting threes yet, but hopefully, [I’ll] start shooting them in the playoffs. It’s going to take a lot of sacrifice and dedication to get there, but I’m just adding pieces of my game throughout the season.”
Sure, Jan.
Despite not having a reliable outside jumper, Rose has found a way to get points on the board, so it’s not a glaring issue, but it’s an issue nonetheless. The biggest problem with Rose is his defense, or lack thereof.
Among starting point guards, Rose had the second-worst defensive rating in the league (111.1). The worst defensive rating in the league was held by D’Angelo Russell (112.6). Progress, I guess?
Luckily, with a few of their latest acquisitions like Caldwell-Pope and Brook Lopez, the Lakers will be able to hide Rose’s defensive deficiencies better than they were able to hide Russell’s in past seasons. Still, not ideal.
On a one-year deal, Rose won’t be a huge gamble for the Lakers. If anything, they have a buffer for Ball until he’s ready to step into the spotlight, assuming he’s not already. Rose is expected to make his decision this coming week, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, after he meets with the Cavaliers. Time will tell whether Rose or Ball is the one walking onto the court as the starter for the season opener.
All stats are courtesy of basketball-reference.com and stats.nba.com unless otherwise noted. For the latest on the Purple and Gold, follow 16 Wins A Ring Lakers beat writer Christian Rivas (@RadRivas) on Twitter.
