It was a long awaited return to postseason play for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, but an early exit has led to trying to figure out ways they can improve for next season. While the Cavs were linked to Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris (briefly), that went the way of the dodo after their obscene asking price leading to other options needing to be explored. One such option? Impending free agent Derrick Rose.
The Knicks apparently do not intend to keep Rose in New York and that leads to speculation about various landing spots. Cleveland was mentioned as a potential landing spot by Bleacher Report’s Adam Wells.
A compelling case is made for a potential return to Cleveland for Derrick Rose. Most notably the Cavs bench scoring troubles and overall slow pace of play. Wells does specifically mention Rose’s previous success as a scoring option off the bench.
Prior to last season, Rose was a fantastic scorer off the bench for the previous four years. He averaged 16.2 points per game on 47.7 percent shooting in 177 appearances during that span. In only 26 games, Rose shot 42.6 percent on catch-and-shoot threes during the 2021-22 season
Adam Wells on Derrick Rose off the bench
Last season is omitted here and that appears to be for good reason, Rose was awful in 2022-23. Those numbers mentioned by Wells plummeted across the board to 5.6 points per game on 38.4% from the field and just 22.2% on catch-and-shoot threes.
With Cleveland’s issues and what Derrick Rose did before last season seem like a good match. Unfortunately that is not living in reality. The Cavs are already rostering an underwhelming veteran point guard in Ricky Rubio. While a Rose addition would mean a Rubio departure, this is a lateral move at best and does not really do all that much in terms of on court performance at the current juncture. It would be wise to explore options at other positions rather than going back down the Derrick Rose road for a second time.
