Chicago Bulls Trade Former NBA MVP Derrick Rose to New York Knicks

(photo credit: cheatsheet.com)

The Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks agreed to a trade that would send three time All-Star Derrick Rose to the Big Apple. According to reports by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago sent Rose, Justin Holiday, and a 2017 second round pick to New York in exchange for Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon, and Jerian Grant. ESPN reported last week that the Knicks were very interested in trading for Rose. 

Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek, and general manager Steve Mills expressed interest in upgrading the point guard position. Once Rose heard that the Bulls wanted to trade him, he immediately listed the Knicks as his first choice. According to sources close to Rose, he said he was emotional about leaving his hometown team, but he was excited to play in the bright lights of New York. 

The Bulls selected Rose out of Memphis with the first pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Rose enjoyed success in his rookie season, as he won the Rookie of the Year for the 2008-2009 season. Rose became the youngest player in NBA history to capture the NBA MVP award during the 2010-2011 season. Rose led the Bulls to the top of the Eastern Conference during that season, as the franchise was enjoying success for the first time since the Michael Jordan era. Rose and the Bulls made it to the conference finals that year, but they lost to a LeBron James led Heat team. 

After that season, Rose started to get ravaged by injuries. In the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, Rose tore his ACL against the Philadelphia 76ers, which prompted him to miss all of the 2012-2013 season. The point guard then only played 10 games during the 2013-2014 season. Rose has played in just 39% of Bulls games since the 2012-2013 season, but he managed to play 66 games this year. The six-year veteran averaged 16.4 points last year, as he played the most games in a season since the 2011-2012 season.

 Rose hasn’t been to an All-Star game since 2012, as he has seemingly slowed down from all of the injuries. However, Rose will significantly improve a Knicks backcourt that saw its point guards average a league low 7.6 points per game last year. Rose, 27, is owed $21.3 million in the final year of his contract. He will become a free agent after the 2016-2017 season.

 Lopez started all 82 games for the Knicks last year, as he averaged 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.57 blocks per game last season. Calderon started 72 games last year, as he averaged 7.6 points and 4.2 assists per game last season. Grant was selected 19^th overall in last year’s NBA Draft, as he averaged 5.6 points and 2.3 assists last year. The Knicks will be holding a news conference on Thursday at 6 P.M. ET.