Derrick Rose has finally started to look like himself over the last month and fans have been really excited to see him playing close to the MVP level he was at five seasons ago. Five seasons ago! It may be hard for people to believe that the last time we watched Derrick Rose put up numbers like this was five years ago. Rose should be entering his prime at the age of 27, but he is only returning to form. Rose only played 113 games over the course of those five years including playoff games. That also includes the entire 2012-13 season he sat out with a torn ACL. This season Rose has played 48 games. That's almost half of what he played in five seasons. This is a sign of good things for Chicago. In fact what if Rose ends up being Chicago's Bill Walton.
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Bill Walton was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1974 and saw limited action in his first couple seasons as a Trail Blazer due to nagging injuries. In 1976-77 Walton lead the Trail Blazers to an NBA championship despite playing in only 65 games. In those 65 games he averaged 18.6 ppg, 14.4 rpg, 3.8 apg, and 3.2 bpg. The very next season Walton would be bit by the injury bug and would play in only 58 games. Even though he played in only 58 games he earned MVP honors behind 18.9 ppg, 13.2 rpg, 5 apg, and 2.5 bpg. In the 1978 playoffs Walton would give it ago, but he couldn't move fluently and would ultimately further injure his foot. Walton would not play in the 1978-79 season. He would return home to the San Diego Clippers for the 1979-80, but would only play 14 games before re injuring his foot. He would then sit out the next two season with the same foot injury. Walton's time with the Clippers was injury riddled, never playing a full season. In 1985-86 Walton was traded to the Boston Celtics. He would play 80 games for the Celtics, the most in his career. He averaged 7.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 1.3 bpg off the bench for the Celtics. He went on to become the first player in NBA history to win an MVP award and a Sixth Man of the Year award. He was a huge factor off the bench for that Celtics team and helped them win the 1986 NBA Finals.
Looking at Rose's career he has missed many games due to injuries, but luckily Rose has access to more advanced medicine. The medical field is much better than when Walton played. This will hopefully help Rose avoid falling into what happened to Walton. The Bulls roster has gained much more talented players since Rose last played at this level and he might not even be considered the best player on the team anymore. With that said he could still contribute a great deal to the Bulls and maybe help them win a championship, much like Walton did with the Celtics.
If Rose continues to play this way and the Bulls get Jimmy Butler back around playoff time, the Bulls will be a tough outing for the top teams in the east.
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