One of the biggest shockers of the recently-concluded trade window was the Detroit Pistons' decision not to offload veteran guard Derrick Rose.
Detroit was desperate to part ways with former cornerstone big man Andre Drummond, and the package they got from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for the Drummond is testament to this fact. This makes their decision to keep Rose even more baffling.
Pistons team executive Ed Stefanski recently shed some light on this recent development, reiterating the significance of Rose's role for Detroit's young squad.
Stefanski on keeping Rose: "We would have had to get a nice package for Derrick. He's had an unbelievable year. We like him as a leader with the young guys. They probably idolize him." Said that you'd have to ask other teams if the injury played a part in interest.
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) February 7, 2020
There's now no doubt that the Pistons are going to be rebuilding over the next few seasons, and on paper, a guy like Rose doesn't really fit the bill. The former MVP is currently having an outstanding season, and with contending teams showing some interest on the veteran, perhaps Detroit would have been better off cashing in on him now. They could have probably hauled in a number of useful future assets in exchange for Rose, whose current deal will expire at the end of next season.
This is all water under the bridge now, however, and Stefanski's explanation above is probably the closest we'll ever get into trying to solve this puzzle. Let's not forget that there's still a matter of Blake Griffin and the $75 million he's owed over the next two seasons, so at this point, Detroit's front office still has their work cut out for them.
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