Best NY Knicks signing No. 3) Derrick Rose re-ups on 3-year, $43.5 million deal
After Derrick Rose‘s first stint with the NY Knicks (2016-17), I, personally, remember being unbelievably disappointed to find that despite having posted his best statistical campaign since his All-Star days (18 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds on 37 percent shooting) the team’s front office opted not to re-sign the point guard.
Yes, I’m well aware that he ultimately had his season cut short due to a knee injury, but to hear the team refrained from offering him any sort of contract was rather offputting.
Fast-forward four long and grueling years later and we see that the former MVP was once again suiting up for the orange and blue and, like last time, he put up impressive numbers (14.9 points, 4.2 assists on 49 percent shooting).
Fearing that history would repeat itself, I came into the offseason preparing to see the veteran once again being disrespected by the franchise and, ultimately, finding himself landing a deal elsewhere.
However, what I have had a hard time with realizing over the course of the last year — and still find myself to be a bit trepidatious about — is that this Knicks administration is quite different from those of decades past.
A simple example of this is the fact that the organization did not let Rose easily slip away from them this time around and, in fact, wound up re-upping with him on a rather low-risk deal worth an annual salary of $14.5 million through 2024, with the third year of the contract being a team-option.
With his obvious upside coupled with his third-place finish this past year in the Sixth Man of the Year voting, this deal is well worth it for the 32-year-old as well as for the NY Knicks.