<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jalen Rose is eligible to sign with a new team Wednesday after clearing waivers, and as of Tuesday afternoon three teams had emerged as favorites to land him. <div align="center"><font color="#666666"><font face="Verdana,Arial,sans-serif">[imgr]http://espn-ak.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/2636.jpg[/imgr] </font></font><div align="left">The Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns and his hometown Detroit Pistons are the front-runners, according to NBA front-office sources. </div> </div> "We'll look at it and evaluate the situations [and] see what happens," Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni told the Arizona Republic. "He's definitely a party of interest. He's a very talented basketball player." All three clubs have payroll concerns, Miami and Phoenix especially, but Rose is presumably available for the veteran minimum -- almost half of which is paid by the league -- after receiving a buyout Monday from the New York Knicks worth $14.5 million this season. If Rose signs for the veteran minimum salary, he'd earn $1,178,348 from his new team for the season, with that team obligated to pay only $744,551 of that amount and the league paying the difference. None of those three elite teams, then, would have to stretch financially to bring in the 33-year-old. The favorite? As the Heat were preparing to host Chicago in their season opener, numerous sources said Miami was leading the chase, with coach Pat Riley -- who made a similar bid to sign Bonzi Wells in September -- offering Rose minutes at all three perimeter spots. The Heat also has the ability to offer a slight increase on the veteran minimum, since it still has its full $5.2 million mid-level cap exception available. Phoenix has $1.5 million of its exception left; Detroit can only offer the veteran minimum. </div> Read The Rest If I Rose were to sign, I'd be a happy fan. We have no legit scorer off the bench (if Walker starts all year), and with his versatility, Jalen can log plenty of minutes at all the 1 2 and 3.
