It has become somewhat of a tradition for the New York Knicks to acquire players whom of which were once superstar material but their careers were halted by injuries. Penny Hardaway, Steve Francis, Tracy McGrady, Antonio McDyess, Dikembe Mutumbo, Baron Davis, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, and Rasheed Wallace to name a few…
Early Wednesday afternoon the New York Knicks added to that list.
The former #1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Derrick Rose, was acquired by the Knicks in a multi-player deal with the Chicago Bulls. The Knicks acquired Rose for close to nothing by shipping away Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon, and Jerian Grant. In return the Knicks will receive former 2010-2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose, Jrue Holiday’s older brother Justin Holiday, and a second-round draft pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Rose spent his entire 8 seasons in the NBA as a member of the Chicago Bulls. There were a lot of accomplishments early on in his career followed by major setbacks. The Chicago native won the Rookie of the Year award in the 2008-2009 season, was a 3x NBA All Star from 2010-2012, was named to the All-NBA First Team in 2011, and was the recipient of the NBA MVP award in 2011. Who can forget his acceptance speech!?
Following his MVP season, D.Rose suffered a torn ACL in the 1st round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs vs the 76ers and has not recovered to MVP status since.
The Knicks took a chance in trading for Rose from little to no cost, and can arguably be a win/win situation for them from the business aspect. Removing Robin Lopez’s large contract with 2 years remaining, Jose Calderon’s expiring contract, and Jerian Grant’s contract which has 2 team option years remaining will free up cap space to pursue other big name players who have also passed their prime like Joakim Noah, or Dwight Howard to fill the Center roll.
Phil Jackson became the ringmaster of this New York Knicks’ circus 2 seasons ago and is entering his 3rd season with the team. Like Rose’s career, there has been a lot ups and downs since Jackson became the Knicks President but the “Zen Master” always seems to show signs of hope when he makes decisions like drafting Kristaps Porzingis, hiring head coach Jeff Hornacek, and now trading for a former MVP point guard.
Knicks fans hope Rose can revamp his career, and bring back winning basketball in New York.
Queens Native Style 