Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose was one of the feel-good stories of the 2018-19 NBA season. Having gone through so much since his devastating ACL tear in his left knee during a 2012 playoff game against the 76ers. Having overcome injury after injury, setback after setback. Rose was finally able to put a string of games together and at times looked like the D. Rose of old.
With a fresh start in Detroit, Derrick Rose might be able to play an important role for this Detroit Pistons team this season.
While the explosion and lightning-quick 1st step isn’t always there for Rose, he has seemingly learned how to overcome and adapt to his limitations. Rose can still get to the basket and has added a consistent jump shot to his game to help him not overly on his failing athleticism.
Rose’s game now seems to be built around getting hot and torching teams with his scoring. He is still a capable playmaker but he doesn’t seem to focus on getting the ball to others as much as he used to.
With averages of 18.0 PPG, 4.3 APG and 2.7 RPG in 51 games, if he can maintain these numbers, while also staying healthy for the season, he could be in contention for 6th man of the year.
While going from MVP of the league to 6th Man of the Year may seem like a step-down for a player, for Rose it might just signal a storybook turnaround to a once spectacular career that many had thought was going to be lost to injury.
After all Derrick Rose has been through, all the heartache and setbacks, it would almost be romantic to see Rose claim the 6th Man of the Year trophy and put an end to a chapter that many thought would define his legacy as a player.