While the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ acquisition of Derrick Rose was considered a steal given the minimum contract he signed, even as the top available choice at the point guard position, his former team did not think so.
In fact, the New York Knicks didn't even offer him the veteran's minimum to stay in the Big Apple, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Instead, the Knicks opted to sign Ramon Sessions to a minimum contract, playing the role of a mentor for young French rookie Frank Ntilikina.
New York had interest in Rose when Phil Jackson was still president of the team, but once he was fired, the interest waned significantly, according to ESPN's Ian Begley.
The organization has plans to make Ntilikina their starting point guard of the future after selecting him with the ninth overall pick of this year's draft, and wanted a mentor to bring him up to speed in the NBA game and pace after playing in the Euro circuit for the past few years.
Rose doesn't speak French and wasn't remotely interested in a mentorship role after enjoying one of his best recent years last season, ultimately making a one-year stint with the Cavs more serviceable for his career.
“Did we miss something?,” Rose’s agent B.J. Armstrong told Berman. “Is there something going [on] in New York we didn’t see? We all would agree they are on a different timeline than Derrick — a young team with great young talent there and trying to build something for the future. They’re not on the same timeline as players who are a little older and experienced.”
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Derrick’s best basketball is right now. The Knicks aren’t ready to compete at that level right now. It could be three, four years.”
The former 2011 MVP will now carve his future — even if it's short-lived — in the city of Cleveland, where he stands a chance to crack the starting spot and replace Kyrie Irving if he is traded at some point this offseason.
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