The Warriors‘ championship in the 2021-22 season is still fresh in the memory, but Stephen Curry and company aren’t looking so strong this campaign. Right now, the Dubs are on a three-game losing streak and sixth in the West.
Steve Kerr has experienced many problems throughout the season, with notable absences and low performances from key players. At the deadline, Golden State brought back Gary Payton II only months after letting him go.
But it looks like the Warriors were waiting to pull off another move to add more depth to their roster. According to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, sources told him Golden State would have gone after Derrick Rose if the Knicks had bought him out.
Rumor: Warriors would have chased Derrick Rose if Knicks had cut him
(Via Heavy.com)
“Not that surprised he did not get a buyout, no. The team option for next year complicated things a little bit, and he also just did not want to leave that situation. He likes Thibs. He likes [the] New York [Knicks]. But it raises the question of what is next for him because everything was laid out for him to go to the team and ask out. They would have done it. He could have gone to [the] Phoenix [Suns] to try to win a title, he could have gone back home to Chicago, both of those teams would have jumped at him.
“Golden State was ready to get in the mix there, too, and [the] Miami [Heat]. He would have had some really good options. He wanted to stay in a place where he is not playing, though, and where the team is pretty good but not a real contender. Derrick’s loyal. He is loyal to Thibs. He is loyal to [Knicks official William] Wesley. But they would have been OK with letting him go somewhere else. He did not want to. You have to wonder if he is going to keep playing much longer because he was in a position to reconstruct the end of his career, and he just did not take it.”
Needless to say, Rose’s best days are far behind him. That said, at 34, he’s still a veteran player who could help many teams coming off the bench. It makes sense the Warriors were interested in him had he been on the buyout market.
