Via chicitysportsfan.com
Jalen Rose is a funny guy. An interesting guy. Most of all, Jalen Rose is a man unafraid of making bold proclamations.
During halftime of the Knicks-Lakers game Sunday, ESPN’s on-air personality did just that. Speaking on Carmelo Anthony’s impending free agency, this Rose made it clear he thought ‘Melo should join another Rose—Derrick Rose.
“If you can’t go play with LeBron, you might as well go play with D-Rose,” Rose said on television.
Rose’s comments followed an extensive discussion on what Anthony should do, and they came on the heels of Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski saying ‘Melo prefers the Bulls over Lakers in free agency.
Now I could tell you that the Bulls are a long shot to land Anthony. In fact, that’s exactly what I’ll do: Chicago is a long shot to sign Anthony. Far longer than Los Angeles.
The Bulls currently have nearly $65 million on their ledger for 2014-15, noticeably above the projected salary cap. Amnestying Carlos Boozer clears $16.8 million from the books, giving Chicago roughly $48.2 million in player salaries, which simply isn’t enough to offer a max contract.
Dumping Taj Gibson, and the $8 million he’s slated to make, puts them at $40.2 million, which is close enough, if not enough. But that’s not including what becomes of Nikola Mirotic and the various cap holds Chicago would have to account for since it wouldn’t have 12 players under contract.
Are we to believe Anthony takes a pay cut to join the Bulls? When he has to take a pay cut to leave New York in the first place?
The Knicks can offer Anthony five years and $129 million while every other team can hand him a maximum of four years and $96 million. To join the Bulls, ‘Melo would likely have to accept even less than that. Unless general manager Gar Forman dumps more than Boozer and Gibson—Mike Dunleavy, for instance—they won’t have enough cash to meet ‘Melo’s demands. And creating said room requires they incur a slew of other losses. Is it really worth it at that point?
Never mind that, though. Any of it. It’s the “if you can’t go play with LeBron, you might as well go play with D-Rose” quip that gets me, however facetious or serious Rose was being.
Rose isn’t LeBron. No one is. Matter of fact, Rose isn’t even close to LeBron. Not. Even. Close. He’s injury prone, and he hasn’t been healthy since 2012. Anthony’s going to join him? After playing next to Amar’e Stoudemire, and experiencing firsthand how devastating recurrent injuries can be? I don’t think so.
Anthony may be a flight risk (spoiler: he is). There won’t be a lot of big-market teams with cap space able to pry ‘Melo out of New York, but there will be at least one. And it’s not the Bulls; it’s the Lakers, where playing with the aging, durable (until recently) Kobe Bryant makes more sense than teaming up with a young superstar toeing the line of tragedy.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
