With the New York Knicks going forward with a nine-man rotation, it has left the likes of Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose, and Cam Reddish playing little to no minutes.
While we might see Rose check in for a few seconds here and there, he’s largely not a part of the team’s plans going forward and that means they should test the market for him.
There are a variety of teams out there who could use his services, and the Knicks might not have to look very far to find a suitor. An Eastern Conference executive speaking to Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney names the Miami Heat as a possible option.
Rose to the Heat?
At 34 years old, Rose isn’t going to be a player that comes in and saves a season, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play a meaningful role.
For the Knicks, his presence was greatly missed last season as he only appeared in 26 games due to injuries. Going into this season, it looked like he was going to be playing a bit more, but he’s only appeared in 25 games and only averages 13 minutes a game when he does play. Despite that, he could be a good fit for the Heat due to the concerns over aging guard Kyle Lowry.
“Miami is a team to look at there, they’re not confident that Kyle Lowry will be healthy in the playoffs, and they’ve had interest in Rose before,” the executive told Deveney.
The Miami Heat have been struggling this season and find themselves sitting at the 7th seed with a record of 18-17. It’s not an insurmountable hole they find themselves in, but the Heat were expected to be among the better teams in the Eastern Conference coming into the season, so seeing them this far down in the standings is a bit surprising.
With the Heat guard approaching the twilight of his career, leaning so hard on him might not be the best idea, but he’s having a solid year with averages of 14.4 points per game and six assists. Lowry was dealing with injuries during last season’s playoffs run, so having Rose as insurance wouldn’t be the worst thing.
Of course, this all comes down to whether or not the Heat will want to take on another aging guard with a history of injuries, but it could be worth a gamble for half a season.
Anybody Else Interested in Rose?
The executive told Deveney that many teams have shown an interest in acquiring Rose, so the Knicks might have their share of suitors.
“Rose has gotten a lot of interest, but no one is going to give up a first-rounder for him at this point—he is 34 and has not been healthy for years now,” the executive told Deveney. “He is tough to trade because he has a team option next year, so someone would have to guarantee that.”
The Lakers remain an option, but as their season continues to slip away, it makes less sense to trade for Rose, especially since he’s already tried teaming up with LeBron James and that didn’t end well.
This would leave the Mavericks as another possibility, and that’s even after they signed former Knicks guard Kemba Walker.
“Dallas signed Kemba (Walker) but if he does not work out, they’d be a possible spot,” the exec said. “The Knicks are not going to trade him, though, unless they can get him someplace he wants to be, and he has not said yet that he wants to be traded.”
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Eastern Rival Named Possible Landing Spot for Knicks’ Derrick Rose