With the Pistons in full rebuild mode, 12-year veteran Derrick Rose is on the move.
Derrick Rose has reunited with Tom Thibodeau after a trade that brings him back to New York.
The trade, which was widely reported over the weekend, sends Dennis Smith Jr. and a second-round pick to the Pistons and was made official on Monday morning.
.@nyknicks Acquire Derrick Rose pic.twitter.com/eqfBSOwGad
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) February 8, 2021
The trade reunites Rose with Thibodeau, his coach in Chicago when the guard became the youngest MVP in NBA history at 22 in 2011.
Rose later spent one season in New York, averaging 18 points in 2016-17, before rejoining Thibodeau again in Minnesota. He is now in his second season in Detroit.
The deal was first reported by ESPN and The Athletic.
The Detroit Pistons are nearing agreement on deal to send Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks for Dennis Smith Jr. and draft compensation, sources tell me and @JLEdwardsIII.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 7, 2021
Detroit has agreed to trade guard Derrick Rose to New York for Dennis Smith Jr., and a 2021 second-round pick (via Charlotte), sources tell ESPN. Rose reunites with Tom Thibodeau, who coached him in Chicago and Minnesota.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 7, 2021
Rose was one of the NBA’s most explosive players early in his career, the superstar who led Thibodeau’s defensive-minded teams to the best record in the league. But a series of knee injuries followed and neither he nor the Bulls could duplicate that early success.
But Rose remains a productive player as a reserve, averaging about 18 points in each of the two previous seasons. He was scoring 14.2 per game in 15 games this season.
Most important, he’s familiar with Thibodeau, who could use some more scoring punch in his first season in New York.
“He’s one of those guys, he’s been around the system just like myself,” said Knicks forward Taj Gibson, who also played in Chicago and Minnesota. “We know kind of what Thibs basically wants.”
Elfrid Payton is the Knicks’ starting point guard and first-round pick Immanuel Quickley has played well off the bench.
How might Derrick Rose be able to help the Knicks this season?
Smith, a former top-10 pick, could never make an impact in New York after being acquired from Dallas as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade just over two years ago. He was not in Thibodeau’s rotation and was planning to play for the Knicks’ G League affiliate just to get some games. Instead, he leaves after averaging just 8.7 points in 58 games.
The deal continues the Pistons’ total overhaul of last season’s roster, having already moved on from players such as Andre Drummond, Luke Kennard, Reggie Jackson and Christian Wood.
Rose gave the Pistons a lift at times last season, but wasn’t much use to a rebuilding team in this one. His scoring and minutes were down this season as Detroit looked to rookie Killian Hayes at point guard before he was hurt, with Delon Wright also playing solidly at the position.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
