Let the “Derrick Rose wants a max-contract!” jokes die here, and now, and forever.
Actually, keep them holstered, just in case. Despite the fuss that’s been made over how much money the New York Knicks point guard plans to chase in free agency, though, Rose maintains that he wants to win more than he wants to get multi-syllable paid.
From ESPN.com:
“Not even thinking money. I’ve got more than enough money saved. If I stopped playing basketball now, I’ll be all right,” Rose told reporters in Utah on Wednesday night. “I want to win. I want to be happy and feel at peace with myself wherever I’m at. But being at the negotiating table, you never know. I’m not going to negotiate with people where money is the No. 1 thing I’m asking for. I want to win.”
Rose is still open to re-signing with the Knicks and will embrace the triangle offense, per the New York Daily News‘ Frank Isola. But it would still be shocking to see him back in New York next season. The price would have to be right. Even then, with team president Phil Jackson renewing his love interest in the triangle, he probably won’t bring back a point guard ill-fit to run his system.
Free agency is going to be interesting for Rose. His defense has been awful for much of this season, he doesn’t shoot threes, and there’s no swaying statistical or eye-test evidence that he makes those around him better as a playmaker. If he wants to win, he may, in fact, have to sacrifice a ton of money.
With the way today’s game is played, his quest to win and to get paid are most likely going to be mutually exclusive concepts. He’ll get to play for a bad to mediocre team that gives him a lot of money, or he’ll take a stark pay cut to join a squad that can win while covering up for his lack of spacing and defense.
