Will Derrick Rose’s career end where it began with a Knicks-Bulls trade?
Veteran guard Derrick Rose has been pushed out of Tom Thibodeau’s nine-man rotation that has resulted in four straight wins for the New York Knicks. With the trade deadline being less than two months away, there’s a good chance that D-Rose will be gone after being in New York since the 2020-21 season.
Rose’s 15-year career in the NBA has been plagued with injuries, but he entered the 2022-23 season healthy after playing only 26 games last year. The 34-year-old could be a valuable addition to come off the bench for a contender, but given the Bulls’ current state, he’s been linked to the team that drafted him No. 1 in 2008.
Leading up to New York’s first of two games in Chicago on Wednesday night, the Bulls are No. 11 in the East with an 11-15 record. As February draws nearer, teams are monitoring the situation in Chicago to see if the Bulls will decide to be sellers ahead of the deadline. Zach LaVine has been labeled as a player to watch, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported that Chicago doesn’t have an interest in trading him.
However, if there’s one thing to know about the NBA, it’s that things can quickly change. If the Bulls do decide to tear things down, it could open up the possibility of a Derrick Rose reunion.
Will Knicks veteran guard Derrick Rose end up back in Chicago with Bulls?
It seems likelier that Derrick Rose will go to a team like the Mavericks, who have reportedly expressed interest in him due to their need for another playmaker. However, if the Bulls do decide to trade LaVine and the Knicks end up being one of the interested teams, perhaps Rose will be included in the package.
If Rose does wind up in Chicago again, he won’t win a title there. However, winning a championship before retiring doesn’t seem to be a priority for him. After he picked up his first healthy DNP of the season in the Knicks’ win over the Cavaliers, Rose gave his perspective on winning a title.
"“I just want to be happy playing basketball. Of course if I could get one [championship], that would be great. But I always felt like me being on the court in year 15, that is kind of like a championship for me.”"
After missing only a handful of games in his first three years in the league, Rose tore his ACL in 2012. Since then, the most games that he’s played in a single season was 66 in 2015-16, but in recent years, he hasn’t played in more than 51 games (2018-19).
He still has value, but New York doesn’t have a need for him with younger players like Immanuel Quickley, Deuce McBride, and Quentin Grimes. The Knicks could do him a favor by trading him to a contender, but based on how Rose feels about still being on the court in 2022, he doesn’t seem worried about adding a title to his legacy.
It would be a fitting ending for him to close out his time in the NBA where it all began in Chicago, but Bulls fans would likely rather see him get a ring before he calls it quits.
