How Good Will Derrick Rose Be?

One of the great things about watching the NCAA tournament is to see the future stars of the NBA in action. The readiness of players going from prep to pros has diminished over the years as more and more players went pro after their freshman year or jumped straight from high school.

Derrick Rose is the Memphis guard who's largely projected to go 1 or 2 in the NBA draft this year. Watching him play, I don't get the impression that he'll be a superstar. He gave up the ball far too many times and his first step wasn't all that impressive. Some analysts compared him with Dwayne Wade, but I don't think his first step nor dribbling skills were even close to comparable.

He seemed to miss that killer instinct that Memphis was missing big time in the closing moments of regulation. True superstars should want the ball in their hands and make the shots in the closing moments.

The one big benefit he seems to have is strength and athleticism for the PG position. Overall he'll be a solid player, but my guess is on a good team he'll be the 2nd best player and won't reach the level of the current franchise PGs Chris Paul and Deron Williams.