While the Pistons have had a tough first half of the season, with inconsistent play compounded by the injury woes of star forward Blake Griffin, one of the bright spots in Detroit has been the play of Derrick Rose.
Rose is averaging 18.3 points and 5.9 assists per game for the Pistons as their best offensive backcourt player — and maybe best player period. The question for Detroit is whether they should keep Rose through the trade deadline or move him in an effort to get young players or assets. With the Andre Drummond talks with the Hawks reportedly falling through, the Pistons have not yet made a significant decision on whether to begin something of a rebuild or simply retool for a playoff push given the weak bottom half of the East.
That decision may be dependent on what offers come in for guys like Rose, who is reportedly garnering interest from the likes of the Lakers and Sixers, two contenders desperate to upgrade their backcourt rotation. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo, those two teams headline a group of contenders that have reached out to Detroit to gauge the availability of Rose, who apparently is happy in Detroit and is not looking for the team to move him.
The question is what assets would either the Lakers or Sixers be willing to part with to acquire Rose, who has one more year left on his deal worth $7.7 million, fully guaranteed, next season. Philly could package Mike Scott and rookie Zhaire Smith together to make the money work exactly, while L.A. has a variety of small deals they could put together to make it work. The big question for L.A. is what they’d be able or willing to part with, namely Kyle Kuzma, in a possible trade package.
Rose’s status is going to be fascinating to watch as the deadline approaches, as the Pistons must decide whether to sell high — a decision that might be made easier if they continue losing games to teams like the Wizards.
