Minnesota Timberwolves: Derrick Rose has a shot at unprecedented 50-45-90 season

Derrick Rose is on fire, and within range of the gaudy 50-45-90 stat line, a feat accomplished most recently by Stephen Curry during his unanimous MVP campaign. Can the Minnesota Timberwolves’ guard keep it up?

It’s official: this season has been the resurrection of Minnesota Timberwolves guard Derrick Rose.

He’s on a torrid pace, absolutely tearing up the league and pushing for consideration for numerous awards. This isn’t the same D-Rose that won the league MVP as a 23-year old in just his third season, either. This is the veteran D-Rose that is coming off the bench, getting critical minutes for a young Minnesota Timberwolves team and leading the franchise at a time when they desperately need on-court leadership.

If Rose can keep up this torrid streak, forget about just winning the Sixth Man of the Year award. No, depending on how the rest of the season shakes out, Rose could even garner consideration for the MVP award.

When Stephen Curry unanimously won the MVP during the 2015-2016 campaign, he completed the very rare 50-45-90 stat line: 50 percent shooting from the field, 45 percent on 3-point attempts, and 90 percent on free throws. Only Steve Kerr had previously accomplished such a feat, although but Kerr did it while taking roughly six shots a game — well below the accepted minimum threshold of shot attempts to qualify for the 50-40-90 club.

But through 23 games, Rose is nearly on pace! While averaging 14 field goal attempts per game, Rose is shooting 50 percent from the field, 83.6 percent from the free throw line, and a staggering 47.5 percent on 3-pointers.

His scoring average of 18.3 points per game is the most he’s had in five seasons. Considering the unexpected struggles of Andrew Wiggins and the drama of the Jimmy Butler saga, Rose has been one of the bright stories for the Timberwolves and is having an awesome season.

Rose mainly been used off the bench but has also started five games while Butler and Andrew Wiggins were battling injuries. He’s scored in double-digits in all but three of the games he’s played in and ranks 35th in the NBA with a player efficiency rating (PER)  of 21.

While Rose is on the floor, he has a 24.8 usage rating, meaning that plays are constantly being run through him. His true shooting percentage stands at an impressive .606.

Injuries may have taken away all of his bounce, but Rose still has somewhat of an explosive first step and has elevated his game to effectively include the 3-point shot in his repertoire. In fact,  26.7 percent of Rose’s shot attempts are coming from within three feet of the hoop, so clearly Rose can still get to the basket.

Three-pointers account for 26 percent of Rose’s shot attempts with Rose shooting a crazy 47.5 percent from deep, currently sixth in the league. The 50-45-90 line is one of the rarest NBA stats to achieve over a full season and if Rose were to somehow complete it, could he become the first NBA player to win both the Sixth Man and MVP awards?

It’s hard to say whether or not Rose can keep up this pace over the full 82-game season, but these are nonetheless very impressive numbers. The Wolves have struggled to find an identity until recently and currently sit at 13-12, hovering around the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Given his history, injury bug seems likely to crop up again and plague Rose throughout the reminder of his NBA career, but here’s hoping that it stays away for good.