New York Knicks Close To Acquiring Derrick Rose

The Detroit Pistons are rebuilding, but they were hoping to be a little more competitive than their current 5-17 record suggests.  With team leader Blake Griffin looking completely lost, the Pistons have gotten off to a terrible start, and they currently have the league's worst record.  With playoffs nowhere to be seen over the horizon, it makes sense for the organization to look at moving some veterans before they request their way out of town, anyways.

Enter Derrick Rose.  The former league MVP has managed to stay relatively healthy over the past 2 seasons while coming off the bench for both the Minnesota Timberwolves and his current Pistons team, and he has exceeded expectations in a 6th man role after many fans and critics wrote him off, mostly due to injuries.  Rose is set to become an unrestricted free agent following this season, and Detroit would be smart to move him before losing him for nothing next offseason when he presumably signs with a contender.  The former 3-time All-Star has definitely earned a look from contending teams with his recent play.  Rose is currently averaging over 14 points, 4 assists and 1 steal in just under 23 minutes per game.  Pro-rate those numbers to 36 minutes, and you'll find that he's not far off from his 2010-2011 MVP-winning pace: 22.4 points, 6.6. assists, and 1.9 steals per game.  

While the availability of such a dynamic player with a cap hit of less than $8 million and no commitment past this season, Rose is sure to stir up interest from contenders and playoff hopefuls around the league.  According to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sports, the New York Knicks are at the very top of that list, and may even be close to getting a deal done:

A Derrick Rose to the Knicks trade is “close” but not final, league sources tell @YahooSports

— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) February 7, 2021

Perhaps Rose can provide the type of spark off the bench for a Knicks team that has exceeded expectations thus far at 11-13 with a top-10 rated defense but is just 25th in bench points per game.  Both Dennis Smith Jr. and Frank Ntilikina are rumored to be going back the other way, but not many details are known outside of the Knicks being very interested in re-acquiring Rose.