Since the start of free agency, Derrick Rose was arguably the best free agent available for teams to sign. His future was confirmed though earlier this week when he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The former Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks star signed a one-year, $2.1 million deal with the Cavaliers. It could be a very promising year for the point guard as if anyone can bring out that 2011 MVP form in him, it's his new teammate LeBron James.
However, earlier in free agency, Rose was looking to sign for two other teams instead of Cleveland, but unfortunately for him, they didn't want him on their roster.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Rose apparently approached two of the best teams in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers, in the hope he would receive a contract for the upcoming season, but they weren't interested.
You can understand the former Bulls star's mindset in wanting to sign for one of these Western Conference sides. Land a deal with a franchise that is in contention to rebuild his stock for the following free agency. However, both the Spurs and the Clippers passed on signing the point guard.
Cleveland though is a solid landing spot for him that should be able to fulfill his desire of increasing his stock.
It's easy to see why San Antonio and Los Angeles decided to turn down the opportunity to sign the 2011 MVP winner. The Spurs have Patty Mills and Dejounte Murray at point guard already while they wait for Tony Parker to come back from a ruptured quadriceps injury. They have even been linked as one of the teams Kyrie Irving would like to be traded to.
As for the Clippers, they recently acquired a pair of point guards in Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams as part of the trade with the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul, so they don't need to sign Rose either.
Still, the Cavaliers is a great landing spot for Rose, as they've been to the Finals in each of the past three seasons and should be able to help him put his career back on the right track after being poor last season. For the Knicks, he only averaged 18 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, which are much lower averages than his 2011 MVP season.