Derrick Rose has had quite the eventful debut year for the New York Knicks. His team has dominated headlines throughout the season for the wrong reasons and their performance on the hardwood continues to look dismal. The team has shown potential but Kristaps Porzingis fighting the injury bug and Carmelo Anthony beginning to show signs of aging have factored into their less than stellar 2016-17 campaign.
Besides the on-court struggles, there continue to be trade rumors surrounding the team, usually regarding Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose. With Rose set to hit unrestricted free agency this coming offseason, the Knicks could push to deal the veteran guard in hopes of at least getting some assets in return for him instead of losing him for nothing this summer.
With All-Star weekend nearly upon us and the trade deadline sitting only a week away, trade rumors are beginning to heat up again and reportedly, there have been teams out there interested in the former-MVP. Following from ESPN’s Ian Begley:
Players are publicly and privately steeling themselves for that scenario. Rose has wondered aloud several times if he’ll be dealt because he’s on an expiring contract and could help a team looking for backcourt depth.
“I like being here but [you] never know what could happen,” Rose said Wednesday. “My job is to come in and play as hard as I can.”
Multiple teams view Rose as a potential trade target, according to league sources.
It would be surprising if the Knicks didn’t get calls about Rose as the deadline approaches.
Based on this latest news, it seems the possibility of Rose playing in a new uniform remains very much alive and is certainly a situation to keep an eye on over All-Star weekend. It would make sense for the Knicks front office to be fielding every inquiry made about Rose as there’s a good chance he won’t return in free agency. It’s hard to imagine seeing the Knicks view Rose as part of their rebuild around Porzingis and they’ve already been linked to other upcoming free agent point guards such as Jrue Holiday. Either way, a team taking on Rose’s hefty price tag and risking the chance of him walking at season’s end could be viewed as an ultimately questionable move.
