Derrick Rose doesn’t hold any hard feelings toward the New York Knicks after he was openly dangled in trade negotiations leading into the Feb. 23 deadline.
To the contrary, he wants to remain in orange and blue beyond this season, per his agent, B.J. Armstrong (via ESPN.com’s Ian Begley):
Derrick Rose‘s agent, B.J. Armstrong, reiterated on Saturday that Rose “wants to be in New York” after the Knicks included the player in trade discussions prior to the trade deadline on Thursday. Armstrong added that he and Rose understand that the Knicks were operating in their best interests when talking to opposing teams about a Rose deal.
“It was an opportunity to see what his value truly was throughout the league,” Armstrong said on Sirius XM NBA radio on Saturday. “So as you can see, through all the reports, there were teams that were interested in him and what he does and what he brings to the court.”
This sounds like typical agent-speak. Armstrong’s job is to drum up his client’s offseason value, and denouncing the team that can offer him more money and years than anyone else would be a bad business decision.
Whether Rose actually wants to remain in New York beyond this year is unclear. We know he’s very contract-oriented. He probably wants to go where the money is, hence why Armstrong also noted that multiple teams looked into Rose ahead of the trade deadline, further trying to increase the point guard’s appeal.
If the Knicks are committed to pushing forward after this disastrous season, they won’t re-sign Rose. Even if he agrees to a shorter deal, he’ll cost far too much money, and they shouldn’t want a part of his next deal when his contract year has included rampant selfishness on the offensive end coupled with shoddy defense on the other side of the floor.
