Trade #5 – Derrick Rose for Hood
The Detroit Pistons went into full rebuild mode in the 2020 off-season, dumping and trading players, and then spending the rest of their cap space on free agents.
Unfortunately for the Pistons, their poor team construction combined with some injuries has meant they are now one of the league’s worst teams.
With a miserable 4 and 13 record, they are better to go into an asset-accumulation mode.
NBA Cult hero Derrick Rose should be the first piece the Pistons look to move.
The 2011 MVP is coming off the bench as a spark plug offensive player these days. Rose is 32, but still has plenty of gas in the tank as a backup combo guard.
After serious injuries threatened to derail his All-Star career, Rose had two strong years in 2019 and 2020 with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Pistons.
He worked hard on his shooting, and his body, to now be able to play at a starter level again in the NBA. Rose is a guy who can flourish in transition still, while being a smart passer as well.
Though Rose isn’t a strong defender, this Blazer team is terrible defensively. They need to focus on out scoring the opposition if they cant get two-way pieces.
Rose has a similar contract to Hood, but the Blazers would need to add a second-round pick to get the deal across the line.
These deals won’t fix all of the Blazers’ issues with the second unit or defense, but if they want to contend for the playoffs with the injury issues they have, they may need to pull the trigger on something at the deadline.