Rose: I ‘wasn’t trolling’ with Chicago trip comment

Derrick Rose said he “wasn’t trolling.”

Rose never took a flight to Chicago, but whether he was grounded by the Knicks is up in the air — pun intended.

Rose attended Saturday’s morning shootaround before the Knicks faced the 76ers at the Garden. On Friday, Rose twice told reporters he had to hurry up the interviews because he had a flight to catch. He added it was to Chicago.

Knicks officials responded later, saying Rose was joking.

Before the Sixers game, Rose, asked to clarify, didn’t sound playful.

“I don’t even want to talk about that, bro,’’ Rose said. “I’m here. I wasn’t trolling either, bro.”

The conspiracy theory is the Knicks nixed Rose’s attempt to get in an overnight visit with family. Before the game, coach Jeff Hornacek grinned and said, “He was messing with you. He didn’t go anywhere.’’ Rose went AWOL on the Knicks in January, missing the New Orleans game, for which he was fined $250,000.

After Saturday’s 110-109 win over Philly at the Garden, Rose was conveniently absent when reporters had access to the locker room.

On triangle pioneer Tex Winter’s birthday, Hornacek confirmed the Knicks are running more triangle in recent weeks — not on Phil Jackson’s urging, he said — but partly to help the defensive format. The Post reported last week the Knicks ran the triangle the entire first half versus the Thunder entering the All-Star break. Saturday, Roland Lazenby, Jackson’s biographer who wrote a recent biography on Kobe Bryant, told The Post recently: “One of the main points of the triangle is to maintain enough floor balance to allow people to get back on defense. No easy baskets. Tempo gets controlled. That’s the big ups to the offense. You can win a lot of games just by getting back consistently and not allowing easy transition baskets.’’

With the Knicks floundering on defense all season, Hornacek is turning to his offense for answers.

“Part of it is we can help defense and be in better position,” Hornacek said.

Sixers first-year general manager Bryan Colangelo wasn’t with Phiadelphia when he scouted Willy Hernangomez and Kristaps Porzingis in Sevilla. “Two great pieces,’’ Colangelo said. In the 2015 draft, the Sixers passed on Porzingis with the third pick for disappointing Jahlil Okafor and traded Hernangomez on draft night after taking him 35th.