Will the move to acquire Derrick Rose prove to be fruitful for the New York Knicks?
The New York Knicks are a playoff team through the first quarter of the 2020-21 NBA season. I’m not sure if many expected that statement before the season. Nevertheless, here we are. There’s real playoff hope for New York.
And those hopes might have gotten even greater after they acquired Derrick Rose from the Detroit Pistons. A move that will both be criticized and praised over the course of the next few days.
Why acquiring Derrick Rose will help the New York Knicks
On one hand, it’d easy to label this move as rash and a typical bad Knicks move. However, assuming that New York plans on re-signing him, Rose can act as both a stopgap at the point guard position and a veteran presence that could help this team in the midst of their rebuild.
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The Knicks still don’t have a solution at the point guard position, and Rose would help take the pressure off the organization in trying to fill that position heading into the 2021 offseason if a solution isn’t available.
Plus, let’s also not act like Rose is completely washed and unplayable at this point in his career. Rose is just 32 years old and is coming off a season in which he averaged 18 points and six assists on 49 percent shooting from the field.
Rose might not be the athletic phenom that he was early in his career, but he’s still a pretty good player and could still start for a playoff team. The Knicks’ young backcourt would be able to learn from Rose and he would take some pressure off them on a night-to-night basis.
New York has three (potentially four) strong young prospects on their roster that needs some veteran guidance. Adding Rose isn’t a move that’s going to raise the ceiling for the Knicks this season, or even next, but is the type of move that could pay dividends when this team makes additional moves in the future.
I’m not sure if the New York Knicks will make the playoffs this season, but there’s no question that this is not a team that is an afterthought anymore in the Eastern Conference. Slowly but surely, the Knicks are becoming a respectable team again. Smart small moves are what will get them there. It remains to be seen whether this move for Derrick Rose will be part of those smart small moves.