New York Knicks: How they can thrive with Derrick Rose

The New York Knicks have officially traded Dennis Smith Jr. along with the Charlotte Hornets’ 2nd round pick to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Derrick Rose. The trade comes at an intriguing point in the season, as the trade deadline is still over a month away.

It isn’t exactly easy to pin down the Knicks’ reasoning for making this trade. Everyone knows Knicks’ coach Tom Thibodeau and Rose have a long history together — Thibodeau will now have coached Rose on every NBA team he’s been the head coach of. Clearly, Thibodeau had a big influence in making this deal happen.

The Knicks have been playing competitive basketball, and they currently find themselves to be very much in the playoff picture. The Knicks’ level of competitiveness has been a welcome sight, but that doesn’t mean it’s all been smooth sailing.

There has been plenty of uneasiness from fans about Thibodeau’s rotations and his favoring of veteran role players over recent Knicks’ draft picks. Adding Derrick Rose to the mix without getting rid of any current contributors now makes the rotation even more confusing.

So how do the Knicks find this perfect equilibrium of simultaneously making a playoff push and developing their young players, all while Derrick Rose now becomes a prominent player on the team?