Report: Derrick Rose Could Be Waived By Knicks
By Ryan Mayer
The Knicks are languishing in the midst of another rough season that will likely see them miss the playoffs and end up in the draft lottery. This is in spite of the splashy moves that team president Phil Jackson made during offseason.
Two of those big signings, Brandon Jennings and Joakim Noah, won't play for the Knicks again this season. On Monday, it was announced that Noah is done for the season due to a bad knee and that Jennings had been released.
Now, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the NBA rumor mill is churning with talk that the team could also release Rose.
Cutting Rose would likely raise some eyebrows because Jackson traded Robin Lopez and young guard Jerian Grant to get him last summer. Rose has performed fairly well for the Knicks, averaging 17.6 points, 4.6 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game. However, as CBSSports.com's James Herbert notes, the team's defensive rating with Rose on the floor has been poor.
"Those numbers, however, do not capture the harmful effect he has had on New York's defense -- when he's been on the court, the team has had a 111.6 defensive rating, worse than any of his teammates.
As a poor defender and an unreliable outside shooter (Rose is making 23.6 percent of his 3-pointers this season, his worst mark since he was a rookie), there is a ceiling on how much he can help a team right now."
Rose is slated to be a free agent after this season regardless. But, if the Knicks has already decided they don't want to re-sign him, then releasing him would make sense to allow them to bring in a young player for an audition, similar to their recent signing of Chasson Randle after waiving Jennings.
