Despite struggles, Derrick still Rosey
OKLAHOMA CITY — Derrick Rose isn’t sure where he’s going to play next season, or even next month. He understands the business of basketball better these days, having been
traded by his hometown
team about seven months ago.
To put it mildly, Rose’s future in New York is tenuous as the trade deadline approaches during his final season before he becomes a free agent.
Acquired in the summer with the hope that he’d fit and sign long-term, the point guard’s play has been sporadic and was marred by a decision to go AWOL for a game last month. Through all of it — the disappearance, the civil trial, the losing — Rose said he has not spoken to team brass about his future.
But it seems everybody is getting rewarded with monster contracts these days in the NBA’s free agency, and Rose told the Daily News that his humble upbringing has made it impossible to ignore the mega-deals distributed to guys like Mike Conley Jr. ($153 million). Even if it’s not his top priority.
“See it here and there but it doesn’t drive me anymore. Like I always been driven by playing basketball and wanting to be the best. Like (money) numbers, of course you got to know it because of how I grew up,” Rose told The News. “I grew up around the streets. Hustling. You see numbers, you can’t look over them. But I’m just happy that I have an opportunity for them to see how I perform and let them see what I’m worth.”
According to ESPN, Rose will be seeking a max contract in free agency. With Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Kyle Lowry, Jeff Teague and Jrue Holiday all coming off contracts this summer, Rose might be the seventh best point guard in the 2017 free agent class.
“I feel like I can compete against every one of them guys when I step on the floor,” Rose told The News. “It’s never like it’s a pushover, and that’s the only thing I want people to see. It’s not sweet. It’s not a pushover. And I can still hoop.”
Rose said he hasn’t spoken to either president Phil Jackson or GM Steve Mills about a relocation. His trade value is diminished because he’ll be a free agent in a couple months, and no contending team is in a position to take Rose on a rental. The 28-year-old’s defense has been criticized this season, and he’s still much more of a scoring point guard (17.6 points per game before Wednesday) than a facilitator (4.4 assists per game).
But in terms of driving past defenders and finishing at the rim, Rose remains elite.
In the meantime, Rose, the optimist who once called New York a “super team,” isn’t giving up hope that the Knicks can still pull off something special.
He even cited a championship season.
“You never know what can happen. Things can click and you never know,” Rose said. “An example like, when the Mavericks won (the title in 2011), nobody expected them to win, but they got it done. So examples like that, that’s what I think about.”
Of course, one major difference is that these Knicks were 10 games under .500 heading into Wednesday while the Mavericks won 57 games that season. So a title is a bit extreme, but Rose’s main point — echoed by coach Jeff Hornacek — was that the Knicks were just three games out of the eighth spot and anything can happen in the playoffs.
The alternative approach would be to quit and tank for a draft pick, which wouldn’t sit well with a group of veterans. The direction will be a little clearer after the Feb. 23 trade deadline.
“We do have veteran guys. We still believe we can get on a roll,” Hornacek said. “The way the East has been all of a sudden you look at Miami wins 12 or 13 in a row. So our thoughts are, why can’t we suddenly roll off seven or eight in a row? You win seven or eight in a row, all of a sudden you climb that ladder pretty fast in the East. That’s what we’re looking at.”