NBA teams were allowed to talk to player agents yesterday. This gave them time to start really feeling each other out as the first deals under the new CBA get hammered out. But one negotiation should be pretty easy, because the new CBA allows the Chicago Bulls to give Derrick Rose an ungodly stack of cash.
“The Derrick Rose Rule,” as it’s being called around the league, rewards players of Rose’s caliber by enabling a player finishing his rookie contract to make 30 percent of a team’s salary cap — up from 25 percent — if he’s been voted an All-Star starter twice, made two All-NBA teams or won an MVP award.
“It’s unbelievable,” Rose recently told CSNChicago.com. “But the rule, I guess, it fits me for what I’ve achieved at a young age and hopefully there will be a couple more people like me.”
Once the new CBA is ratified, it’s likely Rose will sign a five-year extension for upwards of $100 million.
No wonder he had that smile on his face at the end of that Adidas commercial.
Rose will make about $7 million this upcoming season. Assuming the negotations this week are “is the max ok for you Derrick?” “Ummm… yeah”, then his average annual salary will nearly triple.
But that puts some pressure on the team because in a few years, the new luxury tax penalties kick in. At this point, the Bulls would have almost $42 million committed to Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng in 2013/14 (the first year of the new luxury tax system). Throw Rose in there at around $20 million and you’ve got yourself in a bit of a pickle because only the only other guy on the roster for that season right now is Taj Gibson, and he’d be a restricted free agent.
Of course one of those guys will be gone by then. Carlos Boozer will probably be axed via the amnesty clause at some point before this. That would put Chicago about $9 million or so under the cap, and with the new exception to this CBA, they’d really have about $11.5 million to spend. And Luol Deng’s expiring $14 million contract could be shopped around. But that 2013/14 season is still looming in the back of GM Gar Forman’s mind. There are WAY too many variables and players that need to be signed between now and then.
Rose’s impending salary will present a new challenge to the Bulls as they try to win now while keeping an eye on the future. Of course, the only challenge Rose will have is which color Bentley to buy. Then again, with this new contract, “all of them” is an option.
