High Praise For Rose

ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons ranked Derrick Rose as having the 10th-highest trade value in the entire NBA in his yearly column of such rankings.  Simmons went as far to include the Bulls rookie in the “It Makes Us Angry That You’d Even Ask” category.  Rose is ranked 23 spots higher than the next best rookie, O.J. Mayo.  This is incredibly high praise for a rookie; he’s ahead of guys like Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony.

Simmons, however, does have his reservations about Rose’s demeanor.  “He’s missing that swagger/leadership/vocal component that every great point guard has,” Simmons writes.  “Rose carries himself like a ninth grader playing varsity — never speaks, keeps to himself, doesn’t want to ruffle feathers.”  This may be true for now, but hopefully Rose can develop his vocal leadership as time goes on.  He’s still a rookie, after all, and he’s still adjusting to life in the NBA, not just the game.  Rose is the second-highest ranked point guard on the list, next to Chris Paul, which exemplifies the fact that he’s got the potential to be in the top two at his position.  When the Bulls won the draft lottery last May, I don’t think anyone realized the true magnitude of that lucky day at the time.

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