The New York Knicks can’t seem to trade Carmelo Anthony, so we assessed the value of another star, Derrick Rose.
Carmelo Anthony poured in 45 points in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks. It was his fifth game of 30-plus points in the last nine. Fittingly, the New York Knicks are winless during those remarkable performances. Elite Sports NY’s Robby Sabo argued that Anthony wasn’t the problem, but he also wasn’t the answer. Nowhere could that be more evident than in those five games.
I’m sure you’d all love to read another column about why it’s time for Anthony to go, but you’re not so lucky. This isn’t about trading Carmelo Anthony. It’s about trading another one of New York’s stars. More specifically, assessing his value. Here’s a hint: It’s not Kristaps Porzingis.
It won’t be easy to move Derrick Rose. Between injury concerns and the AWOL incident, he comes with some serious baggage. We tend to look at the negative when it comes to New York’s starting point guard. It’s easy to pick apart his flaws because they jump out at you.
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However, he has shown occasional glimpses of the player he used to be. He’s still capable of busting out a big performance every once in awhile. Like when he scored 30 points on 13 of 24 shooting in New York’s biggest win of the season on the road against Boston. He picked up the slack with Porzingis out and Anthony having an off night.
As long as this ankle injury remains nothing more than a minor sprain (you never know with Rose) it’s naive to think that there isn’t a single team out there who wouldn’t be in need of his services down the stretch.
The Money’s Good
Rose’s expiring contract makes him appealing to all kind of teams. It’s why Jackson took a flyer on him. The former MVP had a salary of $21.3 million for the 2016-17 season, and he’s already been paid more than half.
With the salary cap jumping another $9 million again this summer NBA GMs aren’t looking to take on long term contracts. The 28-year-old has the perfect deal for a contender in need of a short-term fix at the backup point guard position or one of the many desperate Eastern Conference teams jostling for playoff position.
Potential Carmelo Anthony trade partners the Cleveland Cavaliers (if he’s willing to accept a backup role) and the Los Angeles Clippers (as Chris Paul injury insurance) could both use him.
The Defense Isn’t
The biggest criticism about Rose’s game in 2016-17 has been his defense and rightfully so. Without the security blanket of Tom Thibodeau, Rose’s defense has been exposed. Not only is it a weakness, but he’s lazy. A dual threat.
Per NBA.com, the Knicks are 24th in the NBA in defensive rating, allowing 108.0 points per 100 possessions. However, in the 1,379 minutes, their starting point guard has been on the floor, the number jumps to 110.5 points. Without him, they allow 104.5 points (per 100 possessions).
For context, New York’s a top-10 defense without Rose, and with him, they are worse than the last place Brooklyn Nets (via NBA.com).
Check out these clips of Rose against the Dallas Mavericks from Jan. 25. Also keep in mind this was against the Dallas Mavericks.
Instead of helping the defensively-challenged Mindaugas Kuzminskas after he lost his man on the switch Rose shies away from the challenge with a false appearance of a reach in for the steal.
Rose has had trouble staying in front of opponents. He was crossed up by Seth Curry. Here’s some video evidence in case you thought it was his brother.
He doesn’t get around screens well either. On this sequence against Washington, he is screened twice while chasing around John Wall.
Rose has improved on last season’s deplorable defensive real plus-minus ranking. He is 79th out of 87 point guards (-2.40) after finishing 2015-16 ranked 66th out of 69 point guards with a -3.14.
That speaks more to how bad New York’s defense is. The Bulls were a huge disappointment last season, but they were an average defensive team.
Still An Elite Slasher
In Rose’s prime, there was no one better at attacking the basket. Now that he’s been relatively healthy for the first half of the season he’s shown to be capable of getting to the rim as well as anyone else in the league.
The benefit of other offensive stars has enabled the three-time All-Star to be more aggressive and efficient when taking the ball to the rim.
Rose is tenth in drives per game, third in points per game off drives, 13th in points percentage and 16th in field goal percentage among players with at least 100 drives (via NBA.com). Despite being the third option on his new team he still has a one track mind of course. Rose only passes the ball on 25.1 percent of his drives. That ranks him 83rd among players with at least 100 drives. Any team looking for a point guard to dish should steer clear.
Despite being the third option on his new team he still has a one track mind of course. Rose only passes the ball on 25.1 percent of his drives. That ranks him 83rd among players with at least 100 drives. Any team looking for a point guard to dish should steer clear.
His aggressiveness has led to his piling up points in the painted area. Rose is third in the league in paint scoring behind only All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and DeMar DeRozan.
He Was Never A Shooter
Even in his prime, Rose was never known as a shooter. A career 30.2 percent three-point shooter entering the 2016-17 season, New York didn’t expect their point guard to contribute from beyond the arc.
He’s making his mid-range attempts at just over the league average rate with a 40.8 percent. Granted, he should be taking fewer. He’s jacked up 179 of those bad boys which puts him 30th in the league in total mid-range attempts. At this point though the guy isn’t changing. Some occasional spotty shot selection comes with the territory.
It’s the price you pay with Rose.
The Reality Of The Situation
The Knicks ended up with Rose because Phil Jackson was desperate for a point guard and the Chicago Bulls couldn’t give their former franchise player away fast enough. Jackson may have thought Rose could help move things along, but in the back of his mind, he must’ve thought that the move was a quick fix at best.
Rose won’t be back next season. He made sure of that after he skipped a game and didn’t tell anyone. Jackson can salvage the situation by focusing on trading his point guard, not his superstar scorer.
The Knicks gambled on the injury-prone former MVP, and it was fun while it lasted, but he’s teased them for long enough. Time for another team to let it ride.