NBA Trade Deadline: Could Knicks Buy Out Derrick Rose?

Derrick Rose hasn't taken the floor for the New York Knicks in the new calendar year.

So this is how the Derrick Rose era potentially dies ... with a buyout.

This week will be a busy one for the NBA's transaction log, as the 2023 trade deadline looms on Thursday. While the New York Knicks, sitting in the precarious middle ground between the six automatic playoff spots and the four-team Play-In Tournament, are set to be active in the dealings, another could await further down the road.

In listing potential contract buyout candidates ... who will ideally be let go prior to March 1, the last possible day for a player to be cut and maintain his postseason eligibility ... Bleacher Report mentions the Knicks could cut Rose loose in the third year of his season tenure with the team. The 34-year-old Rose has been mentioned in several trade possibilities but he's averaging career worsts in almost every major statistical category. 

Rose, in fact, hasn't partaken in a Knicks game during this calendar year, having fallen out of the New York rotation in favor of Immanuel Quickley and Miles McBride. Even brief, medically-induced departures for Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett haven't afforded him any opportunities, those minutes instead going to Evan Fournier.

The $15.6 million 2023-24 team option lingering on Rose's contract makes it all but certain that Rose's metropolitan career is not long for this world. List compiler Eric Pincus does leave a slight door open for further New York representation for Rose, namely listing his long-standing relationship with head coach Tom Thibodeau, who famously oversaw his early basketball heyday in Chicago before reuniting with him in Minnesota.

"Rose is a longtime favorite of Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, but the team has gone with younger guards," Pincus says. "The team may want to hold on to him, just in case his salary is needed for a trade past this season."

Salary dumps notably helped the Knicks (29-26) secure the services of primary point guard Brunson, who has enjoyed a breakout campaign as a star attraction in the starting lineup. The budget for Brunson's $104 million contract was partly built through trading veterans like Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, and Kemba Walker. 

New York returns to action on Tuesday night when they face the Orlando Magic (7 p.m. ET, MSG). 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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