If they could help it, you knew the Chicago Bulls wouldn’t head into 2016-17 with both Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler on the roster. Whether Rose and Butler get along or not, how believable those rumors are, or what you define “getting along” to be, they no longer co-exist that well on the court together.
Both are a quasi-alpha dog, and you just can’t have two alpha dogs in the same backcourt. Butler may have more trade value, but Derrick Rose is the one who’s moving on, as Chicago has sent him to the New York Knicks.
As first reported by Chicago Tribune Bulls beat writer KC Johnson, the Bulls have traded the 2011 NBA MVP, along with “Justin Holiday and a 2017 second-round pick to the Knicks for Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon on Wednesday. “The Bulls’ retooling process has begun with the once unthinkable, a trade of Rose, who later endured two surgeries to repair his torn right meniscus.”
The Bulls are absolutely doing the right thing in blowing up the roster and starting over. Their championship window shut a year ago, and last year’s failure to even reach the playoffs conveyed just how much that window shut, and shut with authority. The Bulls have a long rebuilding project ahead of them, and this is just the first, but perhaps the most important step.
You can now assume, from the acquisition of Lopez that at least Joakim Noah, if not both him and Pau Gasol, will be moving on as well. It’s also safe to say that the Bulls won’t be drafting a point guard tomorrow night, due to the acquisition of Grant.
Bulls trade Derrick Rose to the Knicks https://t.co/6TKJykzCs2 via @KCJHoop pic.twitter.com/SrMK9GwAe6
— Chicago Tribune Sports (@ChicagoSports) June 22, 2016
On a side note, it’s great to see that the Derrick Rose story was broken first by a local beat writer, who’s entire life is devoted to the team, rather than some so-called “insider” who works for a corporate national television network that is intertwined with the league.
The TV shills have largely taken the news gathering and distribution process away from the more pure, grassroots level in recent years. This is a huge day for Chicago sports news, with a local hero, the 2008 overall #1 NBA Draft pick, moving on from his hometown.
Today’s emphasis on a huge national story should retain that local flair. Vaya con dios, Derrick Rose.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram