Derrick Rose Trade: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
What does the Derrick Rose trade mean for the New York Knicks? A breakdown of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I have to admit that when I saw the Derrick Rose trade come across the wire, as a New York Knicks fan, it hit me like a gut punch. It smacked of the same, “Trade the future for (risky) gains now,” type of move that brought Andrea Bargnani to New York.
When I stepped back and looked at it for a bit, it did make some sense. Yet, I still harbor some grave reservations. So here is my take.
The Good: At the top of the good list is the Knicks’ decision to drop Jose Calderon. There is no way he can start at point guard for the Knicks in 2016-17.
Calderon was a defensive sieve that couldn’t keep up with athletic point guards. Even his offensive production (points and assists) has been on a steep decline.
In his prime, Rose was the premier point guard in the NBA as an explosive, one-man highlight reel.
Unfortunately, that version of Rose is long gone as numerous injuries have taken their toll. However, even a greatly diminished Rose is still head and shoulders better than Calderon, as he is still one of the faster guards in the league, and provides above average production.
Moreover, Rose did show signs of picking up his game in the second half of the season once he got over the blurred vision caused by a facial bone fracture. Assuming he stays healthy, the Knicks will get a better version of Rose than what we saw last year.
Finally, since he’s in the final year of his (monster) contract, Rose is motivated to go all-out this season so he can bring home another big payday.
So, Knicks fans could see a return to his attacking the basket ways next season.
Even if he bombs out (or gets re-injured), the Knicks get back his cap space for the 2017 free agent class—which is stocked with top-tier talent. Indeed, with this move, the Knicks will be able to offer two max contracts next year.
That’s assuming they don’t make any major, long-term commitments in 2016.
The Bad: Robin Lopez and Jerian Grant are both on affordable, long-term contracts. That’s a lot harder to find these days as even the most mediocre players expect crazy money.
Many are even willing to opt out in order to cash out after having a remotely productive season.
This makes it extremely difficult to field a well-rounded team with a deep bench unless you have a lot of draft picks. The Knicks not only had zero draft picks in 2016, but only have five players under guaranteed contract entering free agency.
I’m interested to see what other moves are on the way because I just don’t know how Phil Jackson is going to acquire two more starters (center & shooting guard), and a bench with the money he has left.
Losing Grant is an especially hard blow because I could easily see him developing into a serviceable starter this year. He was already very adept at penetrating into the paint, and is working on his jump shot this summer.
So the Knicks may have paid for their one-year rental with a future starter.
Finally, the Knicks now have two players in Carmelo Anthony and Rose who need the ball in their hands. This may cause team chemistry issues as Derrick Rose will want to showcase his skills before free agency even though this is Anthony’s team.
The Ugly: The bulk of the talent on the Knicks is now concentrated in Anthony, Rose and Porzingis. And this won’t change much with whatever free agents they bring in to fill out the team.
Anthony is already 32 years old and Rose is injury-prone. If either one goes down next year, you can pretty much write the season off.
In a sense, this makes the trade an all-or-nothing type of move. If the Knicks fall apart for whatever reason before next season’s trading deadline, Phil Jackson could dynamite the remaining foundation of the team by trading Melo to a contender.
must read: Five reasons to love the Derrick Rose trade
That means we could be in for a replay of the awful 2014-2015 season. At least we have Kristaps Porzingis.