Monday, October 15th, 2012 at 3:10 pm  |  137 responses

Top 50: Derrick Rose, no. 23

The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.

by Ryne Nelson / @slaman10

Some people never change. Derrick Rose is one of them.

Yes, Derrick has always cried easily. And yeah, he cried in Chicago at the launch of his third signature shoe this summer.

He’s extremely close to his mom and brothers.

His drive, explosiveness and athleticism are second to none in the League.

Yes, Rose (still) has a sweet tooth. He has since managed to avoid diving on to sharp objects after he ate the most famous apple in Chicago sports history, but according to the directors of Rose’s incredibly successful internet docu #TheReturn, yes, Derrick Rose still just hoops, chills and eats mad candy.

He’s not the loudest voice in the locker room, but he earns respect by being a “giver” on the court—if you put guys around him who can play, he’ll make them better.

Just ask Ben Gordon, who after one season playing alongside Rose, netted a Top-50 spot and $58 million contract from Detroit the following summer.

He made Joakim Noah look like a top-three center and an All-Star. No really, I’m dead ass…

And while he struggled to stay healthy last season, Rose has led a painfully average Chicago squad to the NBA’s best record over the past two seasons. He’s added new elements to his game each season—most notably, becoming a consistent perimeter threat.

DRose has physically overwhelmed opponents at every level, and he wants the ball in a tough game with a minute to go. His quickness and speed are the best in basketball. He’s a dude who achieved nearly every basketball accolade before he turned 23.

Whether he’ll bring the Larry O’Brien back to the Chi is yet to be determined, but his immediate future presents more pressing questions.

Can you rank Derrick ahead of a player like Josh Smith, who’s perfectly healthy entering the ’12-13 season? Considering that Rose’s unlikely to return ’til after All-Star, is a top-25 spot blasphemy?

Yes and no.

Yes, because Derrick is easily deserving of being in the MVP conversation every season, when healthy. And no, because we have no clue how DRose will play when he’s back on the court—an ACL tear is serious business for a player, especially one as incomparably athletic as Derrick.

Everything is up in the air, but one thing’s for sure: He is working harder than ever to come back strong.

He may display an improved jumper. He may arm himself with a stronger core and better understanding of his body. He may just be even more focused.

Every season, you complained about how DRose ranked too high in the Top 50. And every season he outplayed his ranking. You laughed when he said he’d be MVP. And then he won it. After three seasons in the L, Derrick found his way into the top-five.

While I personally ranked Rose much worse this season, here Derrick Rose is at No. 23. It’s oddly fitting, because you can’t help but compare the apathy surrounding the Bulls’ season to when No. 23 left the Bulls in the mid-’90s.

Derrick Rose doesn’t need a top-five ranking. He doesn’t need another accolade. He turned 24 years old last week, and the only thing he hasn’t achieved is an NBA Championship.

If you still don’t believe in Derrick Rose, just listen to someone who’s known him since his high school days.

“In the next 15 years, when they’re talking about the best of the best, they’ll be mentioning him,” John Calipari told me over the phone during his DRose’s rookie season. “In 15 years, he’ll be thought of as one of the greats.”


Where should Derrick Rose rank in the SLAMonline Top 50?

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SLAMonline Top 50 Players 2012
Rank Player Team Position Pos. Rank
50 Greg Monroe Pistons C 8
49 Tyreke Evans Kings PG 14
48 Brandon Jennings Bucks PG 13
47 Stephen Curry Warriors PG 12
46 Ricky Rubio TWolves PG 11
45 Al Jefferson Jazz PF 14
44 Anthony Davis Hornets PF 13
43 Serge Ibaka Thunder PF 12
42 Al Horford Hawks C 7
41 Ty Lawson Nuggets PG 10
40 Danny Granger Pacers SF 6
39 Tim Duncan Spurs PF 11
38 John Wall Wizards PG 9
37 Monta Ellis Bucks SG 8
36 Zach Randolph Grizzlies PF 10
35 Roy Hibbert Pacers C 6
34 Tyson Chandler Knicks C 5
33 Eric Gordon Hornets SG 7
32 Kevin Garnett Celtics PF 9
31 Manu Ginobili Spurs SG 6
30 Amar’e Stoudemire Knicks PF 8
29 Marc Gasol Grizzlies C 4
28 DeMarcus Cousins Kings C 3
27 Paul Pierce Celtics SF 5
26 Andre Iguodala Nuggets SG 5
25 Rudy Gay Grizzlies SF 4
24 Josh Smith Hawks PF 7
23 Derrick Rose Bulls PG 8

Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’12-13 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Jake Appleman, Maurice Bobb, Rodger Bohn, Brendan Bowers, Franklyn Calle, David Cassilo, Bryan Crawford, Adam Figman, Eldon Khorshidi, Eddie Maisonet III, Ryne Nelson, Ben Osborne, Allen Powell II, Sam Rubenstein, Jonathan Santiago, Abe Schwadron, Leo Sepkowitz, Dave Spahn, Ben Taylor, Tzvi Twersky, Peter Walsh, Tracy Weissenberg, Yaron Weitzman, DeMarco Williams and Dave Zirin.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

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  • danpowers

    chill. it could happen that he wont play at all. if he was healthy and in the game hed be in the top 10 – top 5

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    While he outplays his matchups more often than not, I think Chris and Deron are still 1 and 2. Rose is at worst, in my opinion, behind LeBron, Durant, Dwight, CP3 and Deron when he’s healthy.

  • A.

    They play 1-on-1 in the NBA??

  • danpowers

    come on, a guy who couldnt defend a one legged one armed rose is not a two time mvp to me.
    numbers dont lie, putting them completely aside leaves a subjective impression. nash deserved one for running the show in phoenix but he wasnt that good as an mvp should be on both sides of the ball.
    thibs deserved the coach of the year award and noah would have maybe deserved the dpoy award more than rose deserved the mvp, “period”. that period way of arguing doesnt rlly make any sense man

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    You still have yet to say anything that would really back up the idea that LeBron or Dwight deserved MVP over Rose. Keep trying though. I told you how the award is given out. It’s no secret.

  • ATF

    There are not 22 players in the NBA better than D.Rose

  • danpowers

    by that you forget the aspect of wade’s health. thats just an open speculation by both of us.

  • danpowers

    but there are 200 or more players in the nba better than d rose before he recovers from his acl tear. when he is back he will be in the top 5

  • danpowers

    i already did. if you dont want to take this arguments as valid there is nothing i can do about it. i know how the award is given out and i partly question reason and substance behind that.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    It’s not the Most Dominant Player award or the Best Player award. If those awards were given out, I’d give you LeBron or Dwight all day. They don’t qualify every year for the MVP award.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Not factoring in health, Wade would have been capable of leading that team to 50 plus wins without LeBron on that ’10-’11 Heat team.

  • LakeShow

    Exactly, what is so hard to figure out about this rating…

  • LakeShow

    Please stay away from SLAM, we don’t need more idiots that don’t understand basic things like the fact that D-Rose may OR may not play this season.

  • showtime

    Slam got it right for once lol.. but na’ll every one know’s kid is(was) top 10 player. THIS IS A PROJECTION FOR 2012-2013 FAnboys…

  • http://www.facebook.com/qcollingwood Interdico Scriptor

    @Nbk… why u so high on LBJ? The Heat BARELY beat the Pacers/Celtics… why does everyone forget this??? East bball for life!!!

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    WHAT.

  • danpowers

    no but it plays a role in that too. plus james and howard didnt put up good numbers on so so teams. they led their teams to success and this counts too. if the bulls wouldve won 10 games more than the heat then ok. but rose’s value isnt that much higher than the value of those two for their teams.

  • danpowers

    maybe proper reading?

  • Caboose

    I see a good amount of people missed my blunt and obvious sarcasm. This explains A LOT.

  • LakeShow

    No one should have even need to read anything to understand this ranking…
    He might not play this season!! He probably shouldn’t be on the list at all.

  • danpowers

    yup. cant be that hard to understand

  • Dnton

    Heat barely beat the Pacers and Celtics without Bosh and with a injured D.wade who had the worst playoff game of his career in the pacers series. But go on, don’t let petty facts get in the way of your opinion. Not even a heat fan btw.

  • Dutch Rich

    Coach Cal may very well be right. What I enjoy most about Rose, and in the past; Iverson, VC and Jordan is that they bring such an additive and unique set of physical skills to the game. Unlike Kobe these guys actually transcend the game. Their thought process on the court is so rapid that they can absolutely be considered Alpha predators on the hardwood.
    Their pure instincts make them unstoppable and highly entertaining to watch.
    Some of you may think it’s crazy to bring VC up in this context but it’s the uncertainty of Rose’s future that makes me think we might have seen the best of him. I do hope I’m wrong!! It’s troubling to read that he still put’s all this crap in his body. He must stop for the sake of longevity as sugars cause tremendous mineral loss resulting in tissue damage, inflammation and cellular pollution. Once again I really hope I’m wrong about this. He strikes me as a great kid and I really enjoy watching his game. But the ruthless assault he administers to his own body cannot be sustained by an unhealthy lifestyle. And now I’m gonna hate myself for putting this out in the universe.

  • spit hot fiyah

    no problem at all with 45, people’s anger are related to them not understanding the criteria for the rankings, it happens on almost every post here on slam.

  • Brock

    I won’t complain until I see the people in front of him

  • Max

    LMAO

  • http://www.facebook.com/qcollingwood Interdico Scriptor

    Someone who prob won’t be playing shouldn’t even be in the 50… jus sayin

  • Scott

    You are forgetting the fact that when games were on the line, the Heat consistently turned to Wade for the last possession/shot. LBJ wasn’t even the MVP of his own team, let alone the league. Sure, he helped them immensely for the first three quarters, but his 4th quarter and last minute stats were laughable. He seems to have gotten over that hump recently, but that was a huge factor that season.

  • http://www.facebook.com/zeek.clark Zeek Clark

    My question is if Bron or Kd or Kobe was busted up, how would you feel if their rankings dropped drastically? Everyone here is hating on DRose… but if you’re a Heat fan, how would you feel if Bron was ranked 20something with an injury that may sideline him for an entire season?

  • http://twitter.com/niQknacks niQ

    lol. It’s okay, some people take things way too seriously.

  • Cristian

    Derrick is abviously better than 23

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    looooooooooool!

  • Redd

    But a rookie should right?

  • Redd

    Chill? Dan I said he’s not healthy & I’m ok with this ranking DANG dude.

  • Dave

    People don’t understand the ranking system because the subtitle says, “Ranking the NBA’s 50 best players.” This conflicts with ranking for this season. Please change the subtitle on the next post.

  • danpowers

    was referring to “this is bull” :D

  • danpowers

    if the rookie is going to play then yes

  • danpowers

    with plantar fasciitis and haunted by migraine problems? no to mention his every now and then problems? it was hard enough for him to play 76 games as the second option. he had great numbers and benefited from having james and bosh with him. i am not so sure if this wouldve went so well with him having to carry a heavy load that year.

  • pposse

    thats why you are yet a youngster caboose.

  • pposse

    slams stupid they ranked d rose #12 the year he won MVP. I sat here on this site and took on all comers saying that he was the best pg in the league, the only thing i forgot to do was come back here during his coronation and tell the slam world the preverbial “i told you so”

  • Caboose

    When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.

  • pposse

    the only weakness that may have been exposed, is that he might not play as well when a 6’8″ freak of nature is guarding you. the guy gave up like 7″ to bron bron.

  • danpowers

    taking that one tripple step back jumper against james that decided (i forgot which one shame on me) wasnt a good option at all. but i dont blame rose for that this is how good players get more experienced and mature. sorry but no matter how weak booze or anybody else played, there is no excuse for a point guard not to pass the ball to open players when taking wild shots against multiple defenders is the alternative. he did alot of good things during that series tho. i aint saying that all is bad, actually he plays really impressive. but why defend this bad decisions by finding excuses? that were things you wouldntve seen from the likes of magic, thomas, rondo, t hardaway, b davis, d williams, k johnson. i know rose style of play as a scoring pg differs from some of these guys. but even though a guys purpose is to score he is still a pg and there r some things that even a scoring pg has to do. untill he doesnt get this done he isnt the mvp of a whole league to me. the award couldve been handed out worse tho

  • danpowers

    i would have rooted for the bulls in 11/12 against any team, too. hogg the ball is not what i criticised. we all know that every once in a while (mj, ai, kb, dr) you need a guy to hogg the ball on offense. but it matters what he does with it. the series against miami couldve went out better in 10/11 if rose wouldve played smarter. which is no big deal by considering his youth. back to the mvp thing: my point was that in this series you had exposed what he still lacks. during the season you could just see glimpses of it. and finally in 11/12 you could see by how the bulls did in this 27 game stretch without him that a big factor of the bulls success are their team defense and thibs system. it could give one the idea that you could exchange rose with any decent pg out there and theyd still have a shot at having the best record year in year out.

  • danpowers

    so what is a logical thing you should do when being isolated against a 6’8 freak of nature guarding you with all he got? take a shot against him?

  • pposse

    if you are saying that d rose is the 3rd or 4th best pg in the league then u need to reassess the word “great” that means there are 3 or 4 other “great” pg’s in the league, when in reality most people reserve the word “great” for the elite of the elite. Ranking D Rose 4 out of 30 starting pg’s in the league makes him in the 13.3 percentile, thats hardly “great”.

  • pposse

    so they went 19-8 without d rose, but in the back of their minds the bulls players knew d rose was coming back! When they knew d rose was not coming back they went 1-4 immediately; thats relative and should be equated into whatever formula you are using.

  • pposse

    lebron was d rose’s only weakness, you can say whatever you want. the Bulls got to the eastern conference finals this year, and only had to beat the heat for a shot at the championship, those are facts. Now, Do you really think the Dallas Mavs would have beaten the Bulls if the Bulls got past Miami that year? Think about how you answer.

  • pposse

    when you step out of line, ill let you know about it young Caboose like i have been doing, over and over and over.

  • Caboose

    Do you think there’s a reason why NOBODY outside of Bulls fans respects your basketball opinion on this site? It must be like Glenn Beck trying to figure out why everybody outside of FOX News laughs at him. Tell me something mildly insightful about basketball, then I’ll treat you like an intelligent person and not the ignorant 13 year old you likely are.

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