New York Knicks: A Realistic Point Guard Wishlist For 2016 Trade Deadline
By Jon Shames
1.) Derrick Rose
Knicks get: Derrick Rose, E’Twaun Moore
Bulls get: Arron Afflalo, Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant
Derrick Rose is perhaps the most uncertain entity in the NBA right now; nobody knows what he’s going to bring to the Bulls on a given night, and they certainly don’t know how he’d fare with another team.
Rose is in the midst of the worst season of his career, averaging just 14.7 points per game to go along with 4.9 assists. Both are career lows (save for a season in which he played just 10 games), as is his .399 field goal percentage.
Derrick Rose is not even a top-15 point guard anymore, never mind a top-15 player.
But he’s still making more than $20 million this year.
Why on earth, then, would the Knicks trade away Jerian Grant, a promising young point guard, and Arron Afflalo, who has been a key scorer for New York this year, for a knock-off version of Derrick Rose?
Well, if Rose could even come close to playing like the MVP he once was, the Knicks would be getting a total steal. The footage speaks for itself.
But what about the Bulls?
Rose has been usurped as the Bulls’ leader by Jimmy Butler, an emerging star. On Thursday night, Rose sat while Butler dropped 53 points to power Chicago to an overtime victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. Butler is averaging 30.6 points per game in January on a slash line of .484/.407/.851. It’s safe to say the Chicago Bulls are his team now.
In September, Rose alluded that he was already focused on his 2017 free agency and the potential money he could be making in his next contract, which raised some eyebrows around the league; why wasn’t he focused on the then-upcoming season instead?
"“I’ve been moved on [from the lawsuit],” Rose said. “This whole summer I had tunnel vision. My mindset was just making sure that I was working out every day and spending as much time as possible with my son. And focusing on those two things. Making sure my family is financially stable, as far as seeing all the money that they’re passing out in this league. Just telling the truth. Just knowing that my day will be coming up soon and it’s not for me. It’s for [two-year-old son] P.J. and his future, so that’s what I’m thinking about now.”"
In November, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested that Rose’s time in Chicago was coming to an end, and that the relationship between the two parties was troubled.
“The team and the franchise have moved on, to a little bit of a certain extent,” he said.
If the current trajectory continues and Rose continues to be out shined by the improving Butler, the chances of Rose commanding a maximum contract in his 2017 free agency are nonexistent. He needs a change of scenery. Big time.
Next: New York Knicks: Too Early To Trade Melo, Commit To Kristaps Porzingis
It would be a gamble on New York’s end, but a Derrick Rose at all reminiscent of his old self would bring this team to the next level.