Lakers can finally sign long-rumored target after Knicks’ latest move

The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of decisions to make this offseason. The team took its first step in building next season’s roster in the 2023 NBA Draft by taking Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis in the first and second round, respectively.

Now the focus turns to free agency as well as any potential trades that the Lake Show could make to improve this roster. This time of year is incredibly hectic for the NBA and we could see a lot of player movement for the purple and gold.

Unfortunately, the Lakers missed out on a name that was heavily tied to the team, Chris Paul. Paul was rerouted from the Washington Wizards to the Golden State Warriors, removing any chance of him signing with the Lakers on a cheap deal.

Thankfully, Los Angeles now has another veteran point guard that has long been rumored to join the team in one way or another to sign in place of Chris Paul. That veteran point guard is none other than former MVP, Derrick Rose.

Lakers should sign Derrick Rose after Knicks decline his club option

This is not a surprising move as Rose has fallen out of the Knicks’ rotation despite being a Tom Thibodeau guy. While the Knicks are not strapped for cash, it made no sense to pay him over $15 million for what he was contributing to the team.

At this stage in his career, Rose is likely going to get veteran minimum offers or could potentially get offers via the bi-annual exception, which the Lakers have this offseason. The bi-annual exception would pay Rose $4.3 million for the 2023-24 season.

Rose would not bring as much to the table as CP3 would have but he would still be a great addition to the rotation. Despite the addition of JHS, the Lakers could still use another playmaker and ball-handler off the bench to take some of the playmaking duties off of LeBron James.

As we saw last year, LeBron is at the stage of his career where the Lakers have to be smart about how much they are going to put on his plate. Adding players like Rose that can run the offense for 16 minutes a night in the regular season could be very beneficial to that objective.

Rose has battled injuries the last two seasons and that has hampered his production but he can still contribute in a limited role off the bench. Heck, we are only two calendar years removed from him looking exceptional for the Knicks in the NBA Playoffs when he averaged 19.4 points, five assists and four rebounds per game.

Rose does have a lot of miles on his body as well as a lot of injuries. It may not seem all that enticing to sign a 35-year-old veteran. But as long as the Lakers are not building the entire roster out of these kinds of moves then it can be smart.

Just look back at Rajon Rondo in 2020. Rondo was 34 at the time and while his regular-season numbers were not the greatest in LA, he ended up being the third-best player in the Lakers’ championship run.

Rose wouldn’t be the third-best player on the Lakers but the team doesn’t need him to do that. All LA needs is someone to take some of the regular-season burden off of LeBron while also being able to swing a playoff game (and therefore, the series). Rose can do just that.