Derrick Rose gets an offer from Croatia; Sponsor obligations in the way: NBA News
At a time, when most of the NBA players are willing to secure an overseas contract in the wake of the ongoing labour dispute, Chicago Bulls star point guard Derrick Rose has become the focal point of interest for teams.
According to reports, the Bulls guard has been in negotiation with a Croatian club KK Zagreb for months.
Recently, the sports director of the Croatian club, Hrvoje Ciketiae, revealed that both the parties had reached an agreement on the finances involved. However, the deal broke down on the issues of the number of games that Rose is supposed to play.
KK Zagreb wanted the NBA superstar to play 22 Euroleague games with the franchise. However, due to contractual obligations with Adidas, Rose would have missed three games which brought the issue to a standstill.
"We reached an economic agreement, but we could not find an agreement about the games. Rose for sponsor obligations would have missed three Euroleague games. And we could not allow that." Hrvoje Ciketiae said.
It is highly unlikely that Rose will go against his contractual obligations with Adidas. Rose has been busy promoting his brand throughout the lockout. The club did not receive the bid from Rose initially and they were the ones, who initiated a contact with the Bulls superstar, who recently unveiled his new line of Adidas shoes.
Rose has been maintaining a low profile ever since the lockout began. The guard, who became the youngest player ever to win the most valuable player (MVP) award last season, has participated in a few exhibition games, but never ruled out the possibility of going aboard. The Croatian stint is the first such reported deal.
However, even if it does not materialize, there are many venues open for the Bulls star. Rose was the break out star last season and his efforts saw the Bulls regain the pedigree, which was lost since the Michael Jordan era. As such, finding an apt venue would not be a big deal for him, if he decides to go abroad.
At the moment, Derrick Rose is in Hawaii with his fellow NBA players to support military personnel in the ‘Hoops for Troops’ campaign.
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