Earlier this month, Knicks President Phil Jackson finally pulled off the ball-busting move he was shipped from Los Angeles to do. He packaged a few B-grade players and sent them to Chicago in exchange for the hopefully-still-eye-popping talents of former league MVP Derrick Rose. He then added Brandon Jennings, Courtney Lee and Joakim Noah to the mix, seriously upgrading a roster that already featured Carmelo Anthony, and he did it all without dealing 2015 Rookie of the Year runner-up Kristaps Porzingis. Even for the Zen Master, that’s pretty damn impressive.
That said, the Knicks still have a ton of work to put in. The majority of the guys we just mentioned have either seen injuries cripple their star-power, or have simply not produced at a very high level in recent years. However, if they all remain healthy, under the keen-offensive eye of new head coach Jeff Hornacek, and the evil mastermind of Phil Jackson, the sky’s the limit.
No one believes that more than Derrick Rose, who had some interesting things to say today at his introductory press conference in New York. Though he was sure not to cite himself as the source, Rose claimed he’d heard people ‘saying’ that the Knicks and the Warriors are the true super teams in the NBA heading into this season.
I mean, with these teams right now, they’re saying us and Golden State are the super teams, and they’re trying not to build that many super teams, and Adam Silver came out with the statement and this and that.
To be frank, it sounds like Rose realized how ludicrous his comments were immediately, and spent the rest of that soundbite trying to undo his error. The Knicks are not the Warriors, and they’re not the Cavs. They might not even be the Clippers. But things have improved exponentially at Madison Square Garden, and it’ll be fascinating to see how they turn out.
