Derrick Rose, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA draft, the 2008-09 Rookie of the Year and the 2010-11 NBA MVP (the youngest MVP in NBA history), was traded by the Chicago Bulls to the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
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Jackson has had a conversation with new point guard Derrick Rose about a handful of top free agents he will pursue, including Durant, an National Basketball Association source confirmed.
There were rumors of tension between the Bulls’ two best players going as far back as the 2015 playoffs, although those whispers were never really substantiated.
Even before the Bulls traded Rose, the 31-year old Noah was already expressing his discontent with the moves done by the team executive over the last two years, including the firing of Tom Thibodeau and hiring of college head coach Fred Hoiberg.
Lopez averaged 10.3 points and 7.3 rebounds while starting every game in his only season in NY after leaving Portland for the Knicks last summer.
Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf called the trade a “hard one” to make.
“I wanted to write him a letter of thanks for the park, but I don’t know how to get in touch with him”, Malloy said.
The little rose emojis on the photo are a nice touch and this will probably become one of the new hot sellers in the game.
The Bulls were also linked to trade talk involving guard Jimmy Butler and the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves, but that is less likely with Rose being moved.
Chicago get a big man in Lopez, which is something that was not promised for the Bulls in the upcoming offseason. Rose is the only point guard on their roster at the moment (the club surprisingly waived Tony Wroten on Wednesday). Now armed with having to be paid 21 million plus before becoming a Unrestricted Free Agent, he goes to the Knicks with plenty of questions that may not be answered in 1 year.
The veteran Calderon and Grant, a first-round pick past year, were on the roster of a team that started well but faltered badly in the second half on the way to a 32-50 season. They also added Jerian Grant, who they loved in the draft a year ago.
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Letting Noah protect the basket and provide a tinge of inside scoring while Kristaps Porzingis, Carmelo Anthony and Rose stretch the floor makes for a lethal combination and a much better team than the Knicks previously had. He has failed to play more than 66 games in a regular season since 2011.
