Trade No. 2 — Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn Nets Receive: G Derrick Rose, G Rodney McGruder
Detroit Pistons Receive: F Taurean Prince, PHX 2021 2nd Round Pick (via BRK), BRK 2022 1st Round Pick
With the Brooklyn Nets being in the market for another point guard, especially with Spencer Dinwiddie going down and being out for the year, Derrick Rose seems like the first choice to come in and help this team win a championship.
Rodney McGruder is also an interesting name that could be added to this trade going to the Nets to make the money work. McGruder is nothing more than a veteran bench player for the Detroit Pistons and seeing as he has a minimal role with the franchise, the Nets could use him to provide depth on the wing. While he may not see the court much, he is a great end of the bench kind of player for depth and is a solid overall perimeter shooter, shooting 33.6% from deep over the course of his career.
With Dinwiddie out for the year and questions surrounding Kyrie Irving, as he has missed the past few guys due to some personal issues, the Nets have had to lean on role players off the bench in Landry Shamet and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to pick up some of the slack. Caris LeVert has really stepped into a bigger role, but in the end, none of these guys are actually point guards. Irving is the only legit point guard on this Nets roster, which is why trading for Rose makes a lot of sense.
Bringing in Derrick Rose to come off the bench behind Kyrie Irving makes perfect sense and he would probably have great chemistry with the Nets’ two superstars. Derrick Rose was a three-time NBA All-Star and NBA MVP before suffering his knee injuries and knows what it is like to be the superstar of the team.
In a role off the bench and taking a lesser role could be very beneficial to him in his efforts to elongate his career and given that he was once in the same position as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant he could become a fantastic role player next to them.
Veteran, experienced players of Rose’s caliber do not hit the trade market everyday and even though trading for Rose would basically be “loaning” him for a year, since his contract is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2020-21 season, bringing him in and potentially winning a title is worth it.
The Pistons need draft picks and young talent, which is exactly what they could get from the Nets for Derrick Rose and Rodney McGruder. Both picks Detroit receives in this trade could then be packaged together to gain another pick this year, or they could keep both to continue drafting young talent to add to their roster.
Not to mention, Taurean Prince is also a player who could fit the Pistons’ system very well. Standing about 6’7”, Prince is a physical forward who spends a lot of time in the paint fighting for rebounds. The guy is tough as nails and there are never questions about his effort level as he leaves it all out on the court.
At just 26-years old, Prince is a guy from the Nets that Detroit could utilize in their rotation and possibly for the foreseeable future. He is under contract through the 2021-22 season, meaning the Pistons would have two years to figure out if they want to include him in their long-term plans.
This trade seems like a win for the Pistons in their efforts to cut ties with some veteran talent they no longer need and gain NBA Draft compensation in the process. This trade with the Nets is one of the better values Detroit could get for Derrick Rose.
