Derrick Rose has played very well in his first season with the Detroit Pistons after not generating much interest on the free agent market last summer, and it appears he is going to be a valuable trade piece as the deadline approaches.
Rose is drawing interest from multiple contending teams including the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports. Both teams are in need of point guard help down the stretch. The Los Angeles Clippers have also inquired about Rose, but those talks were described as more “exploratory” in nature.
Rose has played just 25.8 minutes per game this season and has averaged 18.3 points and 5.9 assists per game despite the somewhat limited role. Haynes reports that he recently asked the team to give him more playing time, but the remarks head coach Dwane Casey made about Rose’s workload earlier this month hold true.
With one more year and $7.6 million remaining on his contract, Rose is said to be happy in Detroit. The Pistons were only three games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference entering Monday, but Blake Griffin is likely out for the season with another injury and Detroit appears committed to being sellers. Unless they are going to try to make a playoff push, trading the 31-year-old Rose is probably the logical thing to do.
