Rose will often drive to the lane with his eyes on the rim, scouts say, which at times causes him to miss open teammates.
But when he finds a teammate, particularly on the perimeter, it has often led to good results. Knicks players who have attempted at least 15 3-pointers off Rose passes are shooting 41 percent on those shots, per NBA.com. Kristaps Porzingis, in particular, seems to have benefited from Rose's presence. He has hit 44.1 percent of his 3-pointers (on 34 FGA) off Rose passes entering the Knicks' game against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
Still, Rose misses opportunities to find teammates fairly often, scouts say.
"He's ball dominant and there have been times when he's had Carmelo and Porzingis open on the perimeter, and he hasn't seen them," a Western Conference scout says. "That's an issue."
Scouts also say Rose continues to struggle at times on defense. Again, the numbers support that observation. Rose ranks in the bottom-third among the 85 point guards who qualify for ESPN's defensive RPM, which is an estimate of a player's impact on team defense.
But there's no question the Knicks' offense has benefited from Rose. They're scoring eight more points per 100 possessions with him on the court.
Some of that has to be attributed to Rose's shot selection.
His 3-point attempts are down 40 percent from last season (1.4 per game) and are down significantly from his attempts per game in 2014-15 (5.3/game). More than half of his attempts (55 percent) are taken 10 feet or closer to the basket, per NBA.com.
"He gets there consistently and makes it difficult. That's something teams have to gameplan for," a Western Conference scout says. "And it opens things up for guys like Carmelo and Porzingis."
Voting for GOATzingis the most. Voted for Rose and Melo once.
