5 reasons why the Derrick Rose signing is a terrible idea for the Cavaliers

The Cavaliers added former MVP Derrick Rose, but there are reasons to think that signing is a terrible idea for the defending Eastern Conference champs.

The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have much wiggle room this offseason. Newly named GM Koby Altman had the taxpayer’s mid-level exception and veteran minimums to try and add talent.

So far they’ve added Jose Calderon, Jeff Green and Cedi Osman. Now it looks like the Cavaliers are going to be adding a former MVP to the roster. The Warriors have two former MVPs on their squad, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, so it looks like the Cavaliers wanted to match that.

Obviously, LeBron James is a former four-time MVP and now Derrick Rose will be joining the fold. Clearly, there’s a key difference in the MVPs that Golden State have and the ones that Cleveland can now boast. Durant/Curry are in their physical prime and look ready to keep dominating, and while James may still be there, Rose certainly isn’t.

Although it’s only a one-year deal that’s worth $2.1 million, it’s still a terrible idea for the Cavaliers to sign Rose. Let’s take a look at five reasons why the Cavaliers might have blundered in signing Rose to the veteran minimum.

5. The Cavaliers don’t have a time machine to go back to 2011

For the next week, you’re going to be hearing a lot of jokes about how the Cavaliers added a former MVP that repeatedly lost to LeBron James in the playoffs. Don’t kid yourself: Rose isn’t anything remotely close to what he was in 2011, when he won the Most Valuable Player award.

So it’s a terrible signing for Cleveland, because Dan Gilbert and Koby Altman can’t go back in time to 2011 when Rose was fully healthy and in his physical prime. Since that time, Rose has missed lots of games with various knee injuries.

During the season he won the MVP, Rose was probably the most athletically gifted point guard in the game. He was able to will his way to the rim and finish repeatedly. Once his knees were shot, the athleticism and bounce in his step was gone.

He struggled to adapt his game and was never again able to put up similar numbers from his MVP season. Rose somewhat revitalized his image last year in New York, averaging 18.0 points per game on 47 percent shooting from the field. 

The same burst to the basket isn’t there, so it becomes that much more of a challenge for Rose to find his scoring. He never was a top shooter and mostly relied on his athleticism to score the basketball.

Since Gilbert and Altman can’t go back in time to 2011 to bring back Rose’s peak, it seems like a bad signing — even at the minimum.