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Despite the rumblings that suggest he’s not personally looking for a buyout from the franchise at this point in time, should he end up parting ways with the New York Knicks in the near future a recent report states that one specific title-contending team could be highly interested in acquiring his services.
Per Bleacher Report’s Chris Hayes, sources have informed him that if Derrick Rose becomes a free agent this season, the Western Conference favorite Phoenix Suns have a serious interest in scooping him up.
“After swinging the deal of the season in acquiring Kevin Durant at the 2023 trade deadline, the Phoenix Suns are now surveying the market for another ball-handler to assist Chris Paul and Cameron Payne, league sources tell Bleacher Report. The buyout market is relatively bare at the point guard position at the moment. However, there is a primary candidate the team is monitoring, according to sources: New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose,” Hayes reported.
Hayes would go on to note that while a buyout from the Knicks “still feels unlikely,” his sources are under the impression that the door isn’t “completely shut on the possibility,” which is a sentiment Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News shared in a piece published back on February 11.
Intrigue Still Surrounds the Knicks Guard
While he may no longer be the All-NBA selectee and 2011 MVP that he once was, Derrick Rose is still a player who garners a considerable amount of buzz from opposing organizations when it comes to whispers of him becoming available.
Even at this year’s trade deadline, the Knicks guard was rumored to have been sought after by numerous teams across the association, with perhaps the most notable of the bunch being the Milwaukee Bucks, per SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley.
Rose has seen his role with the Knicks diminish to that of a mere bench filler in 2022-23, and is amid a 23-game DNP streak whilst sporting career-worst averages virtually all across the board.
However, his ouster from Tom Thibodeau’s nine-man rotation could be assumed to be more about the club’s desire to develop their younger backcourt players behind starter Jalen Brunson more than it is an indictment of Rose’s play for, prior to this season, the veteran had seemingly made a Vince Carter-like shift from being an All-World talent to a high-end role player.
Since committing to being a primary second-unit contributor rather than a top-option starter back in 2019, the point guard has proven to be quite an effective player for his respective employers, as he was posting averages of 16.2 points, 4.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and just shy of a steal per game on 47.7% shooting from the floor and 36.2% shooting from deep heading into 2022-23.
Even throughout this forgettable season, despite logging a career low in minutes (12.9) and currently being outside of the rotation entirely, Rose has still shown flashes at times of his on-court abilities and what he can provide to a team when given a proper role within the rotation.
Per 100 possessions, he finds himself boasting averages of 22.5 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.9 rebounds.
Insider Discusses Concept of Possible Offseason Knicks Trade
Though the Knicks may not have taken that highly anticipated “big swing” at this year’s trade deadline, the offseason is always viewed as a time where big-time moves can wind up being made and, in a February 24 episode of SNY’s “Begley’s Mailbag,” SNY’s Ian Begley was asked if Joel Embiid could be a possible target for the franchise and, in response, he suggested that there’s a chance that the Philadelphia 76ers could shop their prized big man.
“If Philadelphia makes a long run in the playoffs…I can see them staying together and James Harden re-signing in (Philadelphia), everybody comes back and they keep going…But, if things go sideways and Philadelphia has an early exit…I wonder what happens,” Begley said. “I would think an early exit could lead Philadelphia to thinking long and hard about their future with Embiid and (James) Harden and, if Harden leaves, does Philadelphia then pivot to a rebuild and make Embiid available…A lot of things would have to break a certain way for that to happen, but it’s certainly something that I think teams are going to continue to keep and eye on as you get closer to the playoffs and you see how things go for Doc Rivers and his group.”
The link between Embiid and the New York Knicks should be nothing new to both the media and fanbase, as the concept of a blockbuster trade involving the superstar has been one floated around ever since his CAA former agent, Leon Rose, signed on as the club’s President of Basketball Operations back in March of 2020.
The two have publicly gone on to praise one another since their business relationship disbanded, with the big man saying “Leon is my guy” following his initial signing with the Knickerbockers.
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