A veteran looking to emulate a younger star? That's what Derrick Rose is looking to do with the Detroit Pistons, as he aims to use Jimmy Butler as a model.
Rose compares what he and fellow veteran Blake Griffin are contending with on a very young Pistons squad to what Butler did in Miami with the Heat, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
“I look at that and I look at our team, we have the same thing,” he said. “We have a lot of young guys” that he and Griffin can lead. “It’s up to them how good they want to become. We’ll do as much as we can do to push them and set an example.”
When it comes to how he's going to push the younger guys, especially first-round draft pick Killian Hayes, he's using his experience with USA Basketball as an inspiration. Specifically how the late, great Kobe Bryant and the rest of the veterans of the national team would handle practice with first-timers.
Butler's efforts in Miami last season led to an NBA Finals stint. The All-Star swingman arrived in South Beach and, right off the bat, fit the Heat's culture like a glove. He led by example as his work ethic rubbed off the team's youngsters in Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and Kendrick Nunn.
In Detroit, Hayes and the rest of Motor City's young bloods will look up to the former MVP and Griffin in hopes of accelerating the team's development.
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