The New York Knicks’ newest addition, Derrick Rose, is officially available to play for Tuesday’s game against the Miami Heat, per the team.
Derrick Rose is available to play tonight.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) February 9, 2021
Rose was acquired via trade on Sunday as the Detroit Pistons received Dennis Smith Jr. and a second-round pick in exchange for the veteran point guard, and Rose reunites with head coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached Rose during his time with the Chicago Bulls (and later Minnesota Timberwolves).
The addition of Rose was a bit surprising across the NBA landscape, but the Knicks are off to a better start than anybody imagined and could end up making some noise as they look to get into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
Rose was a member of the Knicks back in 2016-17 in his first season away from the Bulls before bouncing around to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Pistons. He is averaging 14.2 points in 15 games with the Pistons and should provide depth and much-needed veteran leadership for a young New York squad.
The Knicks guard rotation is loaded before the Rose move, with Elfrid Payton starting, and rookie Immanuel Quickley getting more minutes as of late. Veteran Austin Rivers has struggled to find consistent minutes and could possibly be on the way out after the addition of Rose, and everybody knows how highly Thibs thinks of Rose.
Thibodeau called Rose a “good player” during his pre-game media session, per The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov.
"I've always been partial to good players," Tom Thibodeau said. "If someone is a good player I'm interested."
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) February 9, 2021
Rose will be coming off of the Knicks’ bench for the time being, per Kyle Maggio of The Knicks Wall.
Thibs says Rose will come off the bench, at least at first.
— Maggio (@kylemaggio) February 9, 2021
The Knicks are 11-14 and ninth in the East and, for the first time in a long time, could make a threat to be a playoff team.
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