Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah come with more risk than Phil Jackson is claiming
Knicks president Phil Jackson talked about the team on The Big Podcast with Shaq
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2 min read
New York Knicks president Phil Jackson appeared on Shaquille O'Neal's podcast, The Big Podcast with Shaq, and discussed the state of his team. After stating that he believes the Knicks' players fit together better than they have at any point since he took over the front office, Jackson said the acquisitions of Derrick Rose -- who is in the middle of a civil trial for allegedly raping a woman -- and Joakim Noah were of the low-risk, high-reward variety.
"The opportunity to pick up Derrick Rose from Chicago and Joakim Noah, also a Chicago Bull, as former teammates, was something I thought was going to be a positive thing for both those two players, as they worked so well together over the years," Jackson said. "Derrick's still a young man at 27 [he turned 28 last week], Joakim just past 30. But both of them, I think, have some career left, even though they've had injuries. And it's what we call risk-reward. What was the risk and what was the reward? And I felt it was a minimal risk and a great reward if we were able to put together a good team."
Hmm, minimal risk and great reward. Let's start with the latter.
Joakim Noah was fourth in MVP voting in 2013-14, winning Defensive Player of the Year and leading the Bulls to 48 wins in a season in which Rose played 10 games, Luol Deng was traded midseason and Jimmy Butler was still a role player. Rose won MVP back in 2011, and New York hopes that he's ready to put his series of knee injuries behind him. If both stay healthy and find chemistry with Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis, then there's real upside here.
The "minimal risk" bit, however, is a different story.
Noah dealt with knee problems two years ago and a season-ending shoulder injury last year. In his first training camp with the Knicks, he strained his hamstring. He's 31, and he signed a contract that will pay him $19.3 million in 2020. Rose hasn't been a consistently helpful NBA player since 2012, and even if he plays well this year, he can leave as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. Did I mention already that he's in the middle of a civil trial for allegedly raping a woman?
New York invested a significant amount of money in Noah, and it traded a starting-caliber center (Robin Lopez) and promising point guard prospect (Jerian Grant) for Rose. These were big-time gambles, no matter how Jackson wants to spin it now.
