The Derrick Rose Rule - any Celtics trade for Anthony Davis was not possible


While searching through the voluminous NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement I came across the Derrick Rose Rule and paid little attention to it. Now I am doing just that - for a good reason.

It appears that the Boston Celtics had zero chance of trading for Anthony Davis after they traded for, and signed, Kyrie Irving. The rule, obviously named after Derrick Rose, concerns players in their rookie contracts who perform well past normal rookie expectations. Both Rose and Davis fall into this category.


According to Dan Greenberg, players fall under this rule when satisfying the following criteria:

If a player on his rookie contract accomplishes one of the following – (1) earns All-NBA first-, second- or third-team honors twice, (2) is voted an NBA All-Star starter by the fans twice, or (3) named NBA MVP – his salary slot will be eligible for the Tier 2 maximum salary (30 percent) when the extension begins in his fifth season.

Once again, per Dan Greenberg, an NBA team can only have one such player acquired via trade on the roster. This means that the Celtics could not have traded for Davis with Kyrie Irving as a Celtic.



As we can see, this does not preclude a trade for Kawhi Leonard, nor does it eliminate the possibility of a trade for The Brow down the line as a free agent, even with Kyrie still on the roster. The logic of the Derrick Rose Rule escapes me, but frankly, so do a number of the rules and policies of the NBA. A few of them may need more scrutiny.

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