10 Things Derrick Rose Will Accomplish in the adidas D Rose 4

Derrick is a self-proclaimed shy guy, but an absolute assassin on the court. And while we're not asking or expecting him to give out any errant smiles or handshakes during intense battles atop the hardwood this season, we do think it's time for the 25-year-old to enjoy his days in the NBA a bit more. Obviously having now come into his own, we think this is the season that D Rose uncovers a bit more of his personality for the world to see. And what better time to do that then at the NBA All-Star game? Yes, this also means we're picking Derrick to rep the East (shocker), and in addition, we're expecting to see that pre-game dance move—just one. Let loose.

At first thought, this may seem like a somewhat obvious prediction, but you can't forget just how many guys were injury-stricken last season. While D Rose was obviously out the entire year, guys like Kobe, Russell Westbrook, Andrew Bynum, etc. also missed significant time—some more than others. We've all seen those road to recovery videos from adidas, and Rose seemed to have put in insane work to get back. Will we note Derrick having an Adrian Peterson-type comeback? That would be tough to match, but we are definitely calling for NBA Comeback Player of the Year, nonetheless. Er, if the NBA still had that award, which they don't. But still.

Kobe did it with Nike—sort of—and with all of these road to recovery clips and return of D Rose segments, now we expect the full-on film. Having already spent hours in front of the camera, all in promo of the Three Stripes, we say Derrick links up with his buddies Kanye and Common, and adidas cooks up a little short flick for us all to enjoy. And if this never happens, we'll simply string together the endless array of clips, starring Derrick, that adidas has released and then call it such. Boom.

We can't go as far as saying that D Rose and the Bulls will finish as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but we are however picking them to top the Pacers in the Central Division. After pushing the Heat to the brink, Indiana is of course a favorite within the East, but we think Rose and company, with that unwavering tenacity night in and night out, will get things done in their division this season. Expect the race to be tight, though. Nonetheless, another banner coming to Chicago, following up on the ones from 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

Think about the current state of Chicago rap—booming. Then you also have veterans like Lupe Fiasco, Common—who D Rose has been seen with—and another heavyweight, Kanye, who has already shouted out Derrick in song. So while LeBron, Kobe and KD have been recent favorites when it comes to name-drops within hip-hop, we expect the surge of young Chi City rappers (Keef, Chance, etc.) as well as the ever-escalating popularity of Rose to go hand in hand. After all, look who he's pictured with above.

Admittedly, this is probably the boldest prediction that we've made on the list. Derrick, well he simply isn't a shooter, and he has even said so in interviews. But with injuries and age, you just have to develop a jump shot, especially as a guard in the league. D Rose's career three point percentage is currently sitting in the lower 30s, so a boost to 40 percent would be—well—huge. We look at it this way, though. Rose spent much of last year off of that leg, but working on his shooting touch. The leg is now healed and seemingly as good as (or better than) ever, so we expect the quickness and burst to be there and defenders to take note accordingly—i.e., backing off. So with those reps having piled in over the past year, we say D Rose welcomes the space and splashes accordingly from three. And hey, LeBron improved to above 40 percent from three last season. Anything is possible.

Supposedly, David Thompson was once able to snag a quarter off the top of the backboard. Crazy, right? Nonetheless, it's no secret that D Rose himself also has bounce—and lots of it. And with Derrick having allegedly added five inches to his already-impressive vertical while rehabilitating that leg, we now expect even more spectacular acts of flight from the Bulls PG. Now we could easily say just wait to see Derrick dunk on this guy and that guy, but we're going a step further. As one of his endorsers, we're calling for Powerade to set up a visual of Rose snagging a Powerade off the top of the backboard. Hey—uh, it could happen, right?

Just a couple seasons ago, many regarded Derrick as the top point guard in basketball. He did win the MVP of the entire league, after all. But now after coming off of that brutal ACL injury, ESPN has Rose ranked as the number nine overall player in the NBA. Whether you now take Chris Paul or Tony Parker or Deron Williams, etc. as the top general, we say D Rose regains his spot as the best PG in the league this season. CP3 has more help out in LA. Tony continues to age. And the young guns like Kyrie and Steph, they may be coming, but they're not there yet. Derrick, retake your spot on the throne.

Okay, so Shawn Marion was awarded the key to the city after winning the championship with Dallas back in 2011. Now we're not necessarily saying the Bulls will cut down the nets this season, and not that we're comparing those two players, but c'mon. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois Mr. Basketball in '07, now leading the team that Michael built—yeah, we say Derrick does enough this year to get that key to the city of Chicago.

We struggled with this one, but let's look at it this way — LeBron is the obvious early favorite (what's new?), but per usual, the King does have a bit of help down in Miami. Derrick, on the other hand, not so much—sorry, fellas. KD has Russy. CP3 also has a rather deep squad out in L.A., but our money goes to the kid D Rose, leading the way for one of the grittiest teams in the league. We expect clear improvements in virtually every category for Rose, having had a year and some change to develop his game away from the NBA. Hoisting that second MVP trophy? Yeah, we're calling it.