{"id":97286,"date":"2024-09-23T20:23:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T00:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=97286"},"modified":"2024-09-23T20:23:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T00:23:29","slug":"grizzlies-more-details-come-light-derrick-rose-split","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/23\/grizzlies-more-details-come-light-derrick-rose-split\/","title":{"rendered":"More Details Come To Light About Grizzlies-Derrick Rose Split"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Early on Monday, the Memphis Grizzlies waived veteran point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rosede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick Rose<\/a> in a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/23\/memphis-grizzlies-waive-potential-hall-of-famer-derrick-rose\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">move that nobody saw coming<\/a>. Now in the 12th hour of his career, the 35-year-old is no longer an MVP candidate. In fact, those days ended after his infamous ACL tear.<\/p>\n<p>Because of his decline, a role as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a>\u2019s backup wasn\u2019t even guaranteed.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, 23-year-old point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pippesc02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scotty Pippen Jr.<\/a> may have been pushing Rose for minutes. Last season, he showed out after injuries to his teammates <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/29\/the-most-productive-players-on-two-way-contracts-in-2023-24\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">led to his door opening<\/a>. In 21 games (16 starts), the Vanderbilt product averaged 12.9 points, 4.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. His 3-point percentage (.417) was sizzling like fajitas at a local Tex-Mex restaurant.<\/p>\n<p>Numbers aside, Pippen is savvy. Crafty. Underrated.<\/p>\n<h2>More Details Come To Light About Grizzlies-Derrick Rose Split<\/h2>\n<p>Pippen breathing down his neck may have played a part in why Rose asked the Grizzlies to buy him out of his contract. Like many other players who are past their prime, he wants to be more than a locker room leader. The former face of the Chicago Bulls wants to actually play.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Derrick Rose and the Memphis Grizzlies agreed to a buyout after Rose asked to be let out of his contract, a source confirms.<\/p>\n<p>Memphis should have the opportunity moving forward to add another player later. Scotty Pippen Jr. also impressed this summer.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewHill_DM\/status\/1838333842089787545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With Rose leaving, there are now two openings on the 15-man roster. That doesn\u2019t mean the Grizzlies will promote Pippen, converting his two-way deal to a standard contract. However, there\u2019s a legitimate chance that\u2019s one of Memphis\u2019s next moves.<\/p>\n<p>The return of defensive menace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smartma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Smart<\/a> is not to be forgotten either.<\/p>\n<p>Last season, Smart was a starter for the Grizzlies after being acquired from the Boston Celtics. This was largely due to the team\u2019s desire to replace former starting small forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brookdi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dillon Brooks<\/a>, another defensive stalwart. Nonetheless, Smart\u2019s woes from beyond the arc and the positional limitations his height presents make him an awkward fit in the first unit.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of starting, he may play more of a sixth man role next season. It would be a better use of his playmaking abilities at least. If a 3-and-D wing like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willivi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vince Williams Jr.<\/a> or even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wellsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Wells<\/a> can step into a full-time starting role, the writing will be on Smart\u2019s wall.<\/p>\n<p>The Grizzlies are still expected to add depth at point guard though, per Damichael Cole of USA TODAY\u2019s Commercial Appeal.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Scotty Pippen Jr. has been a good find for the Grizzlies since joining the team in January but expect Memphis to target more depth at point guard.<\/p>\n<p>The backup point guard position is the biggest question mark in determining how good this Memphis team can be<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Damichael Cole (@DamichaelC) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DamichaelC\/status\/1838323793963683951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>At this point of the offseason, free agency is a bit barren. Nonetheless, there are a few point guards <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/23\/nba-best-point-guards-remaining-in-free-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">worth kicking the tires on<\/a>. Among the most popular options is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fultzma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Markelle Fultz<\/a>, another No. 1 overall pick. If they\u2019re looking for a player a bit more similar to the most version of Rose, former top-10 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithde03.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dennis Smith Jr.<\/a> could be on their radar as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Early on Monday, the Memphis Grizzlies waived veteran point guard Derrick Rose in a move that nobody saw coming. Now in the 12th hour of his career, the 35-year-old is no longer an MVP candidate. In fact, those days ended after his infamous ACL tear. Because of his decline, a role as Ja Morant\u2019s backup [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":97294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1608,62,3],"tags":[793,95,428,668,297,49058],"class_list":["post-97286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grizzlies","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-dennis-smith-jr","tag-derrick-rose","tag-marcus-smart","tag-markelle-fultz","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-scotty-pippen-jr"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}