New York Knicks: Which Derrick Rose Will Show Up This Season?

Which version of Derrick Rose will the New York Knicks get this season?

Not all fairy tales end happily ever after, especially when it come to the Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls tale. Once hailed as the prodigal son of Chicago and the heir to Michael Jordan‘s throne in the Windy City, Rose’s public image has declined.

Through his various knee injuries and some questionable comments, the point guard left Chicago fans happy at the fact that they traded him to the New York Knicks.

It was a very shocking trade and one that nobody thought the Bulls would pull the trigger on. The deal was head-scratching on the other end for the New York Knicks. They moved Robin Lopez, who was a solid player on a great contract, as well as a young player in Jerian Grant.

They took a chance on a guy who has a bad injury history in hopes that he will return to a version of his old form. The New York Knicks also did the same in free agency when they signed Rose’s former teammate in Chicago, Joakim Noah.

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But Rose will be one of the X-factors for the Knicks this season. In a year where they have comprised a team that can make the playoffs, the form of Rose will be a big determining factor on if they can even compete with the best in the East. It all depends on which Derrick Rose shows up.

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We could see the Derrick Rose that showed up the years after his knee injuries, one that looked too cautious to drive into the lane and relied too much on his inconsistent jump shot. Or we could see the Rose that we saw the last two years in Chicago.

One that averaged 17.7 points and 16.4 points in the past two years respectively.

Rose’s stats have gotten better since his last knee injury in the 2013-14 season. His scoring average has gone up and so has his field goal percentage. He even did a good job of limiting his turnovers last season, averaging only around 2.7 per game.

But he still has to do more for the Knicks.

Unlike Chicago, the New York Knicks now have more than one pure scorer on the team. Along with Rose, Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis can score with ease. Courtney Lee is more of a spot up shooter, averaging around 3.3 catch and shoot opportunities per game last season.

He won’t need the ball in his hands as the other players. But the two players who need the ball in their hands to be effective are Melo and Rose.

All three are good with the ball in their hands but they will have to adjust this year. There is only one ball and not every guy will have time to get a good couple of dribbles in every offensive set. With Melo still being the alpha dog, that leaves Rose to adjust.

For Rose, scoring off the ball isn’t his forte. Last season, 70.9 of Rose’s baskets came unassisted. That will surely change this year. Rose will have to be ready to make back cuts off the ball or be ready for a kick out three if needed.

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This isn’t like Chicago where he can run a pick and roll and drive to the basket. He won’t always be the first or second option like with the Bulls, where

was the only other good offensive player. This will be different for the former MVP.

For the Bulls, there were times where Rose would just stand in the corner after passing the ball. He can’t do that in New York.

He will have to develop his outside shot to open up his driving game. Rose is not the best shooting guard, especially from three. He has a career 3-point percentage of 30.2 percent and has shot better than 30 percent only three out of the seven years he has been in the NBA.

He isn’t a willing shooter either. Rose only averaged around 2.3 3PA per game last season and teams are backing off him when he shoots, almost like teams are giving him the Tony Allen treatment. If Rose wants to be more of an offensive threat, he needs to develop a jump shot.

Rose is now in a new situation. He has to prove himself once again in a major market, New York. He will be running a new offensive system as well. The triangle isn’t an easy system to master either so there will be growing pains.

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But the New York Knicks need Derrick Rose be at his best if they want to be contenders.