To say that the Cavaliers are struggling to find their way this season with a much different core is an understatement, and one of their new pieces that they are trying to incorporate is current starting point guard Derrick Rose.
With Isaiah Thomas recovering from his hip injury and not set to return until 2018, Rose has been given the starting point guard role and the unenviable position of trying to replace some of Kyrie Irving’s offensive punch.
With Thomas’s injury and the Cavaliers severe lack of depth at the position behind him with Thomas out, they are relying on Rose quite heavily to have a real impact on the team on a nightly basis.
That still doesn’t mean that the organization doesn’t have a minutes limit and long-term plan to protect the health of their oft-injured point guard though.
Here is what ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote about Rose’s restrictions during the regular season:
“No matter how well Derrick Rose plays this season, he will remain on a strict 28-to-31-minute restriction, multiple sources told ESPN…
Let me say, for one, I’m just happy to be a part of this team, part of something that I think is special,” Rose, 29, told ESPN. “A minute restriction, there’s nothing I can do about that. But with me having all these injuries in my past, I’m kind of used to it. But whatever the team sees and the staff sees and they want me to do, that’s what I’m going to cooperate with and just go about it the right way.”
The Cavs arrived at the 28-to-31-minute range for Rose after Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, athletic trainer Steve Spiro and Rose’s agent, B.J. Armstrong, came up with a long-term plan that they hope will keep Rose’s body fresh for Cleveland’s playoff run.”
That is completely reasonable and makes a lot of sense and a maximum of 28 to 31 minutes in a game is not really that much of a restriction if you consider how many players really average in the mid 30s for minutes in the NBA these days anyway.
Rose has been solid as a scorer around the rim as anticipated this season, he is not really dishing the rock and doesn’t provide outside shooting or even average NBA defense though, which is partially why the Cavaliers are struggling mightily on that end.
The Cavaliers need Rose to be healthy and accentuate his strengths to help them climb their way out of their early struggles this season.
