The New York Knicks have brought back an old friend in Derrick Rose who can help them in the fight for the playoffs. Although they didn’t have to pay much for it, the trade can be an alarming sign to them. The trade in the analysis.
The trade deadline on March 25th is still a long way off, but the Knicks initiated the presumably quite active post-James Harden trade phase fairly early with a return campaign. With Derrick Rose, a player comes back to the Big Apple who already played for the Knicks in the 2016/17 season.
Probably the even more important aspect of this return campaign is that Rose will be reunited with his old coach Tom Thibodeau for the second time. Thibs coached Rose in Chicago for the youngest MVP in NBA history (2010/11), later they met again in Minnesota, when apparently only Thibs wanted to give his protégé another chance after a misunderstanding in Cleveland.
Thibodeau did not want to comment on the rumored trade on Sunday in the context of the game against Miami and referred to team president Leon Rose, whose area of responsibility is such matters in New York. That is correct in and of itself, but this transaction explicitly bears the head coach’s signature.
Derrick Rose: The trade in detail
- New York Knicks received: Derrick Rose, just under $ 2 million
- Detroit Pistons Received: Dennis Smith Jr., Second Round Pick 2021 (via Charlotte)
This is what the Derrick Rose trade means for the Detroit Pistons
The Pistons and their new front office around Troy Weaver are taking a step further into the rebuild, which is to take place primarily with young players. So far, the roster is not overly young and veterans like Mason Plumlee or Wayne Ellington are likely to continue playing their roles, but more than Rose, they are also there to serve as mentors.
The fact that the former superstar could be traded was already up for debate last season when he played really well after coming off the bench, but his team rarely looked competitive. Back then, Rose didn’t want a change of scene and the Pistons respected that. Given the new situation in which Detroit is viewed by the newcomers as the weakest team in the Eastern Conference despite the strong season, his mind has now changed.
It is not known what offers the Pistons for Rose were now – the Clippers, Nets, Bucks and Heat, among others, are said to have reported, which was not surprising after Rose’s good preseason (18.1 points, 55.5 percent true shooting). Judging by that interest, Smith and a second-round pick are probably not a huge equivalent in their low 40s.
What does Dennis Smith Jr. bring to the Pistons?
Smith’s time in the NBA and especially with the Knicks must be seen as a misunderstanding so far. The highly talented guard temporarily let his potential shine through in Dallas, in New York he never really got going after the trade (Smith was exchanged for Kristaps Porzingis, among other things) and after various injuries even asked to be sent to the G-League himself to regain self-confidence.
The pistons, in turn, see loudly ESPN a project in the still 23-year-old; a talented player who may still have the opportunity to get his career off the ground without great pressure. They have acted similarly with other lottery picks in recent years, after all, Jahlil Okafor and Josh Jackson are already on the roster. Jackson in particular has already been written off, but recently showed against the Lakers that he still has potential when he scored 28 points from the bank.
Detroit is in a situation in which there is a lack of talent and in which one can allow oneself such experiments, especially since in Killian Hayes the regular point guard of the future will be injured for a while. De facto, Delon Wright is currently the only point guard in the roster, so there would be minutes for Smith.
