Maybe Derrick Rose can’t stop dreaming about the Olympic gold medal he might mean with the 2016 team USA that will be assembled very soon, but it’s better for his career and the Chicago Bulls that he stays away this time.
Rose has been part of two World Championship teams (2010, 2014) and was supposed to be part of the 2012 team that went on to win the gold medal in London, but his ligament tear in the 2012 playoffs, which is the source of everything that’s gone wrong for the Bulls over the last three years, kept him out of the Summer Olympics.
Rose wasn’t very good and didn’t play a big part in Team USA’s success in Spain last summer. However, it was a nice way for him to come back to the league after missing another huge chunk of a basketball season with a meniscus tear in 2013-2014. It also wasn’t the reason he missed over 30 games last season, suffering from a minor meniscus tear. He was back in time for the playoffs.
Rose did make a mostly successful comeback last season. He didn’t win the MVP or stayed healthy for more than 51 games, but he averaged 17.7 points with 4.9 assists while shooting a better 40.5% from the field when you compare it to his 2013 short time on the floor. Not the guy the Bulls had in 2011, but in a team that has basically evolved without him, he gave them most of the time what they needed and more.
Considering how fragile Rose seems to be (or maybe he’s just extremely unlucky), taking that risk and competing for a spot with about 39 other players in the mandatory Las Vegas basketball camp doesn’t make much sense. The risk just isn’t worth it, although we don’t know how much it does or doesn’t burn in side of Rose to be part of a team that’s going to the Olympics.
A new head coach and basically the same roster, maybe the Bulls improve enough from within along with rookie Bobby Portis and head coach Fred Hoiberg to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a more serious challenge for the Eastern crown this season. Rose, as always, is going to be a big part in whether or not the Bulls are able to keep up with that level of basketball. Considering how his career has developed over the last few seasons, more basketball, even in a non contact environment, just wouldn’t be beneficial to him or his team.