Derrick Rose experienced a bounce-back campaign with the Minnesota Timberwolves last year. Rose averaged 18.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 4.3 apg per contest in 51 games before becoming a free agent this summer and signing a two-year, $15 million contract with the Detroit Pistons.
Even though he’s never made it to the NBA Finals, Rose still believes he has a chance to win the championship and is hopeful the Pistons will be contenders in the Eastern Conference. In a recent interview on Sirius XM Radio, Rose said that winning the NBA title is still his dream and he will try to fulfill it before his career ends.
Derrick Rose explains why his number one goal is to win an NBA Championship and why he thinks it can happen with the @DetroitPistons #DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/SzLiLcGDhZ
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) September 5, 2019
“While I’m in the game…I wanna win a championship that’s what I really wanna do. I got all the accolades that I wanted, now it’s time for me to really get the one that I really, really want,” Rose said.
When healthy, Rose is still one of the best point guards in the NBA, which he proved last year with the Timberwolves. Now, with big guys such as Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond alongside him, Rose believes the Pistons can make the postseason for the second straight campaign. There is no doubt Rose will add quality to Detroit’s backcourt following Ish Smith’s departure to the Washington Wizards. Rose will likely serve as the sixth man, and he thinks Detroit is good enough to compete for the Eastern Conference title.
“With Detroit, I feel like we have a great chance with being in the East. We have two great bigs, a great team, you never know,” Rose said.
It is nice to see such optimism from the player. However, the Pistons were swept in the first round of the playoffs last season, and they are not considered as contenders this time around. The closest Rose ever got to winning an NBA Championship was in his MVP season in 2010-11, when the Chicago Bulls lost in five games to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.