With the way Derrick Rose has spoken about his current situation this week, you have to wonder if he is hoping the New York Knicks will move him before the NBA trade deadline.
As rumors swirled linking him to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rose told reporters on Thursday that he is “prepared” for whatever decision the Knicks make. He was then asked about Phil Jackson’s infamous triangle offense that has frustrated so many in New York this season, and Rose made it seem like he is unhappy with it.
“It’s a different offense,” he said, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. “As a point guard, you’re always in the corner and just got to play off reads and play that way. It’s new for everybody here. I get all my points off random baskets. Unless you see it go to the post, all the other stuff is just random basketball.”
Rose is averaging 17.7 points per game this season, which is a slight improvement on the 16.6 he averaged with the Chicago Bulls last season. It’s hard to believe all of those points have been “random,” but it’s clear he doesn’t like the offense he is currently being asked to run.
As for the T-Wolves rumors, Berman was told former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who coaches in Minnesota now, would like to have Rose back in his system to show younger players how to successfully run the pick-and-roll. While Thibodeau reportedly likes Ricky Rubio, he wants more of a scoring guard.
Rose doesn’t sound like he would be disappointed in a reunion with his former coach.
“Great coach – I haven’t had the time to think about the opportunity to play there,” he said of Thibodeau. “I’m here. We have a game today. He was a great guy, great coach. Learned a lot from him and won a lot when we were together.”
There were reports early in the season that Rose did not feel the Knicks had the right players to run the triangle offense, and it sounds like those issues have not been addressed. For what it’s worth, he’s not the only one who has thrown shade at Jackson’s system this year.
