Suns close to signing Jalen Rose By Jerry Brown, Tribune November 2, 2006 Apparently piqued by the opportunity to play in the Suns' up-tempo system, veteran Jalen Rose was on the verge of signing a one-year deal with the Phoenix Suns Thursday night.NBA sources said the deal would likely be completed by the end of the night. The 33-year-old Rose would earn the NBA minimum salary of $1.178 million — $744,551 of which would be paid by the Suns and the rest coming from a league fund created for that purpose. Rose was also looking hard at Miami, but sources said the Heat was also offering only the NBA minimum (they could have offered as much as $1.7 million and stayed under the NBA's tax threshold). While the Heat play a more structured, half-court style, the Suns like to run and so does Rose. Rose's agent, Arn Tellem, also represents Tim Thomas -- who signed a minimum deal with the Suns last year and turned it into a four-year, $24 million deal with the Clippers in the off-season. At 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, Rose has played point guard, shooting guard and small forward — which fits in with Phoenix's penchant for interchangeable parts. He averaged 20 points or more three times in his career and 18.5 points a game as recently as the 2004-05 season. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=78143
It seems everbody wants to play for the Suns. I don't know how much PT he'll get though. Phoenix adds another scorer.
You will when he drops shots from all over the court like Joe Johnson used to do for them...he's not over the hill just yet.
Watch his already dismal defense go down further by about 50% and His offensive production go up by 465748389364584%
the only place where i can think Rose has a role is back up SG and/or 3rd string PG behind Nash and Barbosa. Which ain't bad for Phoenix, but if Rose wanted PT, Miami would have been ideal.
Bull$hit. Mike D will turn him into a gazelle. Not the kind of gazelle that you find in zoos and Drexler admires. I am talking about the ones you find in Africa, out in the open.
Lmao @ Drexler admiring gazelles ... good stuff Seriously though I could see Rose playing when the Suns want to slow down the tempo of the game and play a 1/2 court game in order to incorporate Amare and Kurt Thomas on offense.
Jalen Rose doesn't have much left in the tank. I don't see him helping the Suns a lot. Think another Jim Jackson.
It's official Rose Signs With Suns By Josh Greene, Suns.com Updated: Nov. 7, 2006 Not surprisingly, the self-proclaimed “Rose That Grew From Concrete” wasn’t pounding the pavement for employment long. A little over a week after being waived by the Knicks, 12-year NBA veteran free agent Jalen Rose signed with the Suns Tuesday. The 33-year-old swingman, who weathered a well-documented upbringing in the rough and tumble West Side of Detroit, will give the defending Pacific Division champs yet another go-to guy on a team chock full of them. “They have great players already,” Rose smiled. “They have All-Stars Shawn Marion, Amaré Stoudemire and two-time MVP Steve Nash. I’m just happy to be one of the guys, fit in, be a veteran, provide some leadership and try and get this team to the top. Teams that have great success are teams with multiple players who can do multiple things. I’m one of those guys, also.” Phoenix marks Rose’s sixth NBA team (Denver, Indiana, Chicago, Toronto, New York), and brings with him averages of 14.7 points, 3.5 boards and 3.9 assists in 31 minutes a night over 894 career games. “You’ve seen Jalen’s stats,” Head Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “You’ve seen what he’s done with the talent he has. He can play at the three, two and one. He’s a veteran who understands what goes on, so he adds another player who can play. A playmaker with some good outside shooting – there are a lot of things he can help us with.” Nash added, “I think it’s a great opportunity to sign a player of his caliber. He’s a talented basketball player who can shoot, pass and make plays. He gives us a lot of versatility, depth and talent offensively. He also gives Mike a lot of options. It’ll take him a little bit to figure out the rhythm and tempo we play at, but Jalen will figure it out.” Figuring it out has been Rose’s forte ever since his three standout seasons at Michigan. Rounding out the Wolverines’ “Fab Five” of Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King en route to NCAA title appearances in 1992 and ’93, Rose was selected 13th overall by the Nuggets in the 1994 Draft. The swingman went on to average double figures in scoring nine of his 12 NBA seasons, including the last eight. His 13,112 career points make him the most prolific scorer on the Suns' roster, 22nd among all active NBA players. While Rose declined to reveal which Suns players helped convince him to make Phoenix his new home, it’s not like he didn’t know what the team had to offer. Moonlighting as a part-time broadcaster for the likes of ESPN, TNT, ABC and The Best Damn Sports Show Period has its advantages. “Being able to cover this team in the playoffs,” Rose began, “that gave me an up-close and-personal look at not only the personality of the players on this team, but how they can get it done on the court with interchangeable parts.” Jokingly mentioning “being traded once or twice” in his career, Rose said the key to staying positive was adjusting and rolling with the punches associated with playing in the NBA. Getting to choose his own destiny as a free agent, not to mention going to a contender, doesn’t hurt either. “Sometimes you go home and wonder what’s in store,” he explained. “When I got traded from Indiana to Chicago and they were the worst team in the league, there was nothing I could do but drive up I-94 and be a pro about it. Getting traded from Chicago to Toronto, and then Toronto to New York, was pretty much the same thing. So, at the end of the day when you have the opportunity to be a free agent, if you have any brains you’d better pick a winner.”
