Derrick Rose quickly blossomed into a superstar with the Chicago Bulls, but a series of knee injuries derailed his career and cut his time in Chicago short. The Bulls ultimately traded Rose to the New York Knicks in the summer of 2016.
Getting traded away from the Bulls was tough for the Chicago product. Rose's agent, B.J. Armstrong, was recently on the Bulls Talk pod and talked about the guard's love for his city. Naturally, Armstrong said Rose didn't want to be traded:
"He never wanted to get traded from Chicago. He loves the City of Chicago. That will always be home for him. I know how bad he wanted to win in the City of Chicago. He is Chicago."
– Three-time NBA Champ and Derrick Rose's agent B.J. Armstrong on the Bulls Talk Podcast— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) May 3, 2020
Rose became the youngest MVP in NBA history in 2011 at the age of 22, and he led the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals that year. Unfortunately, the electric guard tore his ACL the following season and was never the same after that, with subsequent injuries adding to his downfall.
While Rose looked a bit more like himself in 2014-15 and 2015-16, he clearly wasn't at his MVP level, and the Bulls finally decided they needed to move on. Of course, just one year after they traded Rose, Chicago also traded Jimmy Butler and embarked on a full rebuild. The franchise is still trying to move past the rebuild stage, with a new front office now in place to do just that.
As for Rose, he has bounced around since that Bulls trade. The 31-year-old played for the Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves before settling in with the Detroit Pistons this season.
Prior to an injury and the season shutdown, Rose was actually playing some of his best basketball since the torn ACL. He held averages of 18.1 points, 5.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game, mostly coming off the bench. He started 15 of his 50 appearances.
Rose is under contract for one more season in Detroit. Beyond that, Rose hasn't ruled out a return to Chicago, though it's unclear if the Bulls would want him back at any point in the future.
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