We apparently are looking into him.
Quote:
AUBURN HILLS -- Detroit Southwestern and University of Michigan product Jalen Rose is free to sign with any team he chooses after reaching a buyout agreement (believed to be between $12 million and $15 million) Monday with the Knicks.
"I love Jalen, and I have known him since he was a little kid," Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas said. "I hope he picks a spot where he has a chance to win a championship."
Could that spot be Detroit? It's likely remote but not completely out of the question.
"I told Jalen that he would have a limited role here in Detroit," said Pistons president Joe Dumars, who spoke to Rose on Monday. "I told him that we were not opposed to bringing him here under the right circumstances. But it would have to be a win-win for both sides."
Rose said he was looking to sign with a contending team, that he was looking for a chance to earn another contract after this season and was hoping to find a situation where he would play 20 to 25 minutes.
Dumars would guarantee neither another contract beyond this season nor that many minutes.
"He will explore other options, I am sure," Dumars said. "He said he would get back in touch with us (today)."
Miami, Dallas and Minnesota are three other teams Rose might seek out.
Rose will turn 34 in January, and his role with the Pistons, backup small forward, would probably be as small as it was in New York. He became expendable there because of the emergence of second-year forward David Lee and rookie Renaldo Balkman.
"Jalen is a proven veteran," Thomas said. "He's going to help somebody's team big-time."
The Pistons also have made commitments to Carlos Delfino and Flip Murray as backups to Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton. Bringing Rose on board would certainly cancel any hope of getting some production out of Delfino, who bristled last season when he shared minutes with Maurice Evans. The Pistons, who have an open spot on their roster, would only offer Rose the veteran's minimum for one year ($1.178 million).
Rose averaged 12.3 points and 2.5 assists with the Knicks and Raptors last season.
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I haven't really warmed up to this, but I wouldn't be all that pissed if we did end up signing him. Still, it does seem a little cruel to do this after promising Delfino some regular playing time, which he probably would not get with Rose on board. Now, my confidence in Delfino in general isn't very high, but
his own confidence would be killed if this happened. On his best nights, he's average offensively and he'll get you some rebounds and assists while defending well. On Rose's best nights, he can light it up, but he'll get torched at the same time. I dunno.