NBA Trade Rumors: 5 destinations for Derrick Rose
By Tom West
5. New York Knicks
The Knicks are one of the NBA’s most notable franchises in need of a new point guard. Of course, their 2015-16 season was a major disappointment after 2015 signings such as Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo encouraged the potential to steal the 8th seed, until they fell to the 13th seed instead.
However, the Knicks (as much as they disappoint) can’t lose forever, and with no picks in this year’s draft, they don’t have the excitement of adding another dynamic rookie like Kristaps Porzingis to boost their chances. Instead, they need to hope they can make something happen in free agency. Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant and Langston Galloway are only going to get you so far running the point.
As Kyler reported, teams who miss out on a top point guard in free agency could look to the Bulls in pursuit of Rose, hoping that the improved efficiency he showed over the second half of the season (17.8 points on 45.2 percent shooting over his last 40 games) continues.
Even though he still has the skill of a top point guard deep down, and the Bulls won’t give him up without a relatively high return, there’s no way to deny that after all the constant injury troubles, Rose’s trade value is far lower than it would have been several years ago. Not to mention he’s a guard without a reliable three-point shot in a three-point driven league.
The Knicks, if they have any hope of landing Rose with the limited trade pieces they have, would need to capitalize off that.
They start this list due to being a team who are clearly in the market for a new point guard and may eye Rose. They can also be dismissed at the bottom of this list because they don’t have the pieces to form an enticing offer if they want to keep Carmelo Anthony and Porzingis (which they do).
Next: 4. Do Brooklyn have enough?