New York Knicks: 3 most surprising players this season

3 most surprising New York Knicks: Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose started the season with the Detroit Pistons, although it was a foregone conclusion he’d be moved sometime before the NBA trade deadline. It was also assumed that he would likely have his pick of destinations, thanks to his team-friendly contract, and considering his ties with Tom Thibodeau, the New York Knicks were all too likely to be that destination.

Sure enough, long before the trade deadline rolled around, Rose got traded to his favored place and rejoined his former Chicago Bulls coach.

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For this writer, it seemed like a foolishly sentimental move on the parts of both Rose and the Knicks. Sure, Rose wanted to play for a coach he loved in a city where he had some experience, and plenty of NBA teams would like to have Rose on their roster for a host of reasons, but what was the point?

The Knicks were 11-14 at the time of the trade, and even that seemed like overachieving compared to last season. It didn’t seem like it moved the needle, and they gave up a likely valuable 2021 second-round pick (via the Charlotte Hornets) along with Dennis Smith Jr. for his services.

As it happens, the Hornets did a bit of winning to diminish the value of the pick, and Derrick Rose turned out to be a cold-blooded killer off the bench for the Knicks. The Pistons were happy to get anything of value for Rose, so it was ultimately a win-win scenario, but he’s been absolutely phenomenal in New York.

The Knicks are 22-11 in games he plays, and they have a nearly unbelievable +11.9 net rating when he’s on the court, and it’s -0.8 when he’s off the court. Of course, this is due in no small part to the fact that he’s playing plenty of minutes against opposing bench units, but he’s still frying them nonetheless.

I gave the Knicks a D+ for this trade initially, but it’s proven to be nothing short of an A-grade.