It’s been such a wild offseason for the Knicks that you may have forgotten the team could lose Derrick Rose in free agency. Between Carmelo Anthony‘s never-ending war with the team’s front office and the whole “uh, Phil Jackson wants to trade Kristaps Porzingis for missing an exit interview” thing, there has not been a shortage of Knicks-related news this offseason.
Throughout all of this, though, there have been questions about Rose’s future in New York. It’s seems pretty clear that Rose wants to return to the Knicks, although no one would blame you if you thought that wasn’t reciprocated based on the fact that the team drafted French point guard Frank Ntilikina.
But because the Knicks are the Knicks, that’s not the case. According to Ian Begley of ESPN, the team would like to bring the 28-year-old former MVP back.
“The New York Knicks have ‘legitimate’ interest in re-signing Derrick Rose, league sources familiar with the matter said,” Begley wrote. Begley also explained that there could be a road block that leads to whether it’s financially wise for Rose to return to the team.
Sources say the Knicks have discussed several different scenarios with regard to filling the void at point guard — both in free agency and via trade. The Knicks aren’t interested in paying large salaries for any free agent, which may be a sticking point in potential discussions with Rose and his agent, B.J. Armstrong.
…
In his season-ending news conference, Jackson said he was impressed by Rose expressing a desire to return despite the difficult season.
“He enjoyed playing here even with the losses, which of course surprises us because he’s been on some very successful teams,” Jackson said. “But he wants to redeem himself as a player. Which, I like that attitude. I like who Derrick represents as himself. He’s very direct about taking on a big challenge.”
The market for Rose is going to be one to watch — if all 30 teams think he’s more or less washed up, the Knicks could possibly get him at a steep discount. However, if one team thinks it’s worth rolling the dice and giving him a massive payday while the Knicks take a more conservative approach, it sounds like he could head elsewhere.
Most importantly, it looks like Jackson may be very interested in bringing Rose back. He seems to like Rose’s attitude, both with regards to improving and being with the team even though it struggled last year. Whether that’s a good idea or not, especially when the team picked a point guard at the top of the draft, remains to be seen. But like all things related to the Knicks, this has the potential to get really weird in no time.
(Via ESPN)
