Derrick Rose’s continued resurgence is catching the eyes of contenders around the NBA, including the 76ers.
A report from Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes that the Sixers, Los Angeles Lakers, and others have made their interest in the Detroit Pistons’ guard known as the league’s trade deadline approaches on Feb. 6.
The 31-year-old Rose has rebounded admirably from a litany of injuries that derailed a promising career that once held Hall-of-Fame potential.
He became the youngest player in league history to win an MVP title at just 22 in 2010-11 with the Chicago Bulls. He hasn’t played more than 66 games in a season since, which included an ACL injury that held him out for the entirety of the 2012-13 campaign.
Those nagging health issues prompted the Bulls to part ways with Rose as he bounced around the league from the Knicks to the Cavaliers, to the Timberwolves.
It was his first full season in Minnesota that Rose showed flashes of being an explosive, scoring point guard.
He averaged 18 points and 4.3 assists in 51 games last year — his best output since 2016-17 with the Knicks.
Now in Detroit, Rose is putting up 18.4 points and 5.8 assists per game in 38 appearances.
Those numbers have made him a trade candidate in Philadelphia, which needs some point-guard depth for the second half of the season and into the playoffs.
Acquiring Rose would be a considerable upgrade as Ben Simmons’ main backup compared to Raul Neto or Trey Burke.
He would also become the clear and concise sixth man off the bench for a 76ers team that has one of the most imposing starting five’s in the game but don’t boast much else.
That lack of depth has been a clear issue for the organization this season as they sit in fifth in the Eastern Conference at 29-16, 10 games back of the first-place Milwaukee Bucks. The Sixers’ bench ranks 27th in points scored this season, averaging approximately 29 points per game.
Rose also brings a dynamic set of playmaking skills that would help open up opportunities for the offense when Simmons is on the bench.
He isn’t necessarily a consistent shooter from the outside, but his ability to cut to the basket could work wonders for an offense that flows mostly through center Joel Embiid.
The one issue that might throw a wrench in GM Elton Brand’s pursuit of Rose is that he is signed through next season, meaning the Pistons will be looking for a considerable return for the point guard.
At 16-28 and with the likes of star center Andre Drummond also on the market, a rebuild through the draft looks to be the next logical step for the Pistons.
Philadelphia has numerous second-round picks over the next four years, but the hypothetical asking price of a first-rounder might cause some problems within the front office.
