Bucks Meeting With Derrick Rose

Free agent point guard Derrick Rose is meeting today with Bucks team officials, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). It’s the first we’ve heard of Milwaukee’s interest in Rose since the free agent period opened.

The Bucks have a young, talented roster led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, but could use some help at the point guard spot, making them a logical suitor for a veteran like Rose. Matthew Dellavedova was the club’s primary point guard last season, with Malcolm Brogdon and Jason Terry also seeing some action at the position.

Milwaukee’s current cap position may not be conducive to a pursuit of Rose. The team is over the cap, which would leave just the $8.4MM mid-level exception to offer the former MVP. However, Wojnarowski suggests (via Twitter) that Milwaukee has been making an effort to shed salary in order to make room for a more competitive offer for Rose.

While Wojnarowski doesn’t identify any specific players the Bucks are trying to move, Greg Monroe ($17.88MM) is the club’s most obvious trade candidate. Some combination of John Henson ($11.42MM), Mirza Teletovic ($10.5MM), and Spencer Hawes ($6.02MM) might also make sense as potential chips. I wouldn’t expect any of those players to have a whole lot of trade value though.

Rose, 28, is coming off a season in which he averaged 18.0 PPG and 4.4 APG in 64 games for the Knicks. There’s reportedly some interest within the Knicks front office in bringing back the former No. 1 overall pick, though a source tells Frank Isola of The New York Daily News that GM Steve Mills is opposed to the idea, and Mills currently has the final say on basketball decisions.

View Comments (15)