Cavs: 3 former players to avoid in free agency

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Derrick Rose, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images /

The Cleveland Cavaliers enter free agency with a couple of clear mandates in place. They want to add pieces good enough to push for the play-in game, without mortgaging their financial future or taking the ball out of their young players’ hands. Can the Cavs accomplish that?

It starts with restricted free agent center Jarrett Allen, but the team has a few other spots to fill and somewhat limited team-building tools with which to do that. They need at least one backup on the wing and a backup center.

One risk for any team is that they stray into nostalgia when investigating free agents. The Cavs are not immune to this; they brought back Anderson Varajao last season to play frontcourt minutes, a move with no upside but slathered with nostalgia. That’s fine for a back-end roster spot at the end of the season, but looking ahead the Cavs need to sign players that make sense for their roster, not that used to wear the wine and gold.

Former players to avoid in free agency: 3. Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers to help LeBron James with one final push to the NBA Finals. That season started rough, and at the trade deadline the Cavs reset much of the roster and tried a completely different mix, sending Rose to the Utah Jazz.

Rose has revived his career from there. After averaging just 9.8 points per game in Cleveland through the first half of the 2017-18 season, he averaged as much as 18 points per game in two of the three following seasons. This past season he was a sharp pickup by the New York Knicks, and was probably their best player in the postseason.

Even so, Rose is not a fit for what the Cavs are building now. It’s likely he will be commanding more expensive contracts than the mid-level exception deal (starting around $9.5 million). If he does end up looking for a deal at the mid-level, the Cavs would be firing their best free agency bullet on a 32 year old point guard who stands just 6’2″ tall and plays with the ball in his hands.

Rose has proven himself a valuable veteran piece, but he doesn’t fit this roster. Darius Garland and Collin Sexton command the ball in Cleveland, and behind them Ricky Rubio was just added at nearly $18 million to play backup point guard. As tempting as Rose’s shot creation can be, the Cavs should use their assets elsewhere this summer.