New York Knickerbockers

[rooster69ph]

Malakas sila pag a healthy DRose. Ang problema these past years laging injured.

[bangad]

ayos, potential contender sa ECF ang knicks provided drose and melo both healthy. jeff teague nasa pacers na

[Guiness]

it's final Derrick Rose is a NEW YORK KNICK

 

Hometown Bulls send Derrick Rose to Knicks in multiplayer swap

ESPN.com news services

12:21 PM CT

 

The Knicks acquired Derrick Rose from the Bulls on Wednesday, hoping the former NBA MVP can be their answer at point guard.

New York traded center Robin Lopez, guard Jose Calderon and guard Jerian Grant to Chicago, which shipped guard Justin Holiday, Rose and a 2017 second-round pick back to the Knicks.

A Chicago native, Rose was drafted by the Bulls with the No. 1 overall pick out of Memphis in 2008. A source close to Rose said he was very emotional about leaving Chicago because of all his great memories there but that he wanted the big stage of New York.

 

Once Rose got word the Bulls were looking to trade him, the source said, he hoped it would be to the Knicks.

"His first choice was New York," the source said. "He wants the spotlight."

Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf called the trade a "hard one" to make.

"Everyone knows him as the local kid who became MVP for his hometown team, but not everyone got to know him like I did," Reinsdorf said in a statement. "While he is a terrific basketball player, he is an even better person with a tremendous heart."

ESPN reported last week that the Knicks had internal discussions recently about trading for Rose. Both Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek and general manager Steve Mills had said that the team was interested in upgrading its point-guard position in the offseason.

End of An Era for Rose in Chicago

• 1st overall pick in 2008 NBA draft

• 2008-09 Rookie of the Year

• 2010-11 NBA MVP

• 1 conference finals appearance (lost to Heat in 2011)

• Signed 5-yr/$94M extension in Dec. 2011

• Tore ACL in 2012 first round vs. 76ers

• Missed entire 2012-13 season; played 10 games in 2013-14

• Played in 39 percent of possible games since 2012-13 season

-- ESPN Stats & Information

 

Rose has battled injuries since he was named NBA MVP in the 2010-11 season. However, he did show improvement in 2016, averaging 17.7 points (including 8.4 in the paint), 45.3 percent shooting from the field and 55.3 percent shooting on drives to the basket during the new year. That should help the Knicks, whose starting point guards averaged a league-low 7.6 points per game in 2015-16 and shot just 44.7 percent on drives to the hoop.

 

"This is an exciting day for New York and our fans," Hornacek said in a statement. "Derrick is one of the top point guards in the NBA who is playoff-battle-tested. He adds a whole new dynamic to our roster and immediately elevates our backcourt."

Rose, 27, is owed $21.3 million in the final year of his contract. He will be a free agent after the 2016-17 season.

A six-year veteran, Rose seemed like the perfect fit for Chicago after it drafted him.

 

He led the Bulls to the top of the Eastern Conference in the 2010-11 regular season, leading the franchise to success it hadn't enjoyed since the Michael Jordan era. But he wrecked his knee for the first time in the playoffs the following year, and since then, he hasn't had the speed that once made him one of the league's most dazzling young stars and a seemingly perennial All-Star.

Rose In Decline

A look at Derrick Rose's performance in the four years after he was drafted and since shows numbers that have dropped off.

1st 4 Yrs Since PPG 21.0 16.9 FG pct 46.4 41.2 APG 6.8 4.8 Pct games played 89.4 38.7 -- ESPN Stats & Information

 

Rose hasn't been back to the All-Star Game since 2012 and has often had trouble just playing in the real games. He sat out all of the 2012-13 season, made it back for 10 games in 2013-14 and appeared in a little more than half the Bulls' games in 2014-15.

But he did play in 66 games last season, his most in five years, and averaged 16.4 points.

A source said Knicks star Carmelo Anthony reached out to Rose's camp in the days leading up to the trade but the sides were unable to connect.

 

Lopez, an eight-year veteran, started all 82 games for the Knicks last season, averaging 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.57 blocks.

Calderon, another NBA veteran, started 72 games in 2015-16, posting averages of 7.6 points and 4.2 assists.

Grant was selected 19th overall out of Notre Dame in the 2015 NBA draft. He played in 76 games as a rookie, averaging 5.6 points and 2.3 assists, which ranked eighth among first-year players.

 

Lopez ($13.5 million), Calderon ($7.7M) and Grant ($1.6M) are owed a total of $22.8 million next season. Trading all three players cleared up more than $13 million in guaranteed money from the Knicks' books for the summer of 2017.

 

The Knicks will need to replace Lopez this offseason, and some members of the organization would like to target Bulls center Joakim Noah, sources say. Noah is close with Rose and also has a good relationship with Anthony.

Another potential option for New York is free-agent center Dwight Howard. The Knicks are one of several teams that Howard would consider in free agency, league sources say, but their interest in Howard is unclear at this point.

The club will have at least $30 million to spend in free agency.

 

Bulls general manager Gar Forman said the club was eager to add Lopez, who he said adds "toughness" to Chicago's roster.

"As we said at the end of last season, we are committed to exploring every option to improve this team," Forman said. "This trade is a significant step in that process. Our goal is to get younger and more athletic, and this trade moves us in that direction and allows us to start changing the structure of our team. In Robin Lopez, we are acquiring a starting center who is a good defender, good rebounder, and brings a toughness to our team. Jose Calderon is a proven veteran who can run an offense and knock down threes. Jerian Grant was high on our draft board last year as someone with a great skill set and positional size. All three players are great teammates and have tremendous work ethic, and we are excited to welcome them to the Chicago Bulls organization."

The Knicks will have a news conference Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.

The Chicago Tribune first reported the deal.

 

Information from ESPN's Chris Broussard, Ian Begley, Marc Stein and The Associated Press was used in this report.

[Guiness]

Dwight Howard Interested In Signing With Knicks


Jun 22, 2016 2:44 PM

Dwight Howard has interest in signing with the New York Knicks.

The Knicks are expected to have at least $30 million in cap space this summer.

Last offseason, the Knicks signed Robin Lopez to a four-year contract and he had a productive season.

The Knicks' top priorities this offseason have been their backcourt and it is unclear what level of interest they would have in signing Howard.


NBA Rumors: With Derrick Rose On Board, Knicks After Joakim Noah


The New York Knicks just traded their old starting center for their new starting point guard, so it seems they’re in the market for a big man. Considering the relationship (and wins) Derrick Rose had with former Chicago Bulls teammate Joakim Noah, he would seem to be a natural fit to join the former MVP at Madison Square Garden. Accordingly, the Knicks seem to be interested. “With Derrick Rose on board, some in the Knicks organization want to make a run at Bulls center — and soon to be free agent — Joakim Noah, sources say,”

ESPN New York’s Ian Begley wrote Wednesday. “Noah is close with Rose and has a good relationship with Knicks star Carmelo Anthony. He also grew up in New York. The Knicks sent center Robin Lopez to Chicago in the Rose deal and are in need of a big man. They will have at least $30 million to spend in free agency this summer. … It is unclear what kind of offer Noah is looking for. Other outlets have reported that the Knicks are interested in Noah.

The trade for Rose on Wednesday only bolstered that interest for some in the organization.” Letting Noah protect the basket and provide a tinge of inside scoring while Kristaps Porzingis, Carmelo Anthony and Rose stretch the floor makes for a lethal combination and a much better team than the Knicks previously had.

[Guiness]

Knicks president Phil Jackson told Derrick Rose that he’s going after Kevin Durant next

Frank Isola

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Updated: Friday, June 24, 2016, 1:31 AM

Derrick Rose was never big on playing free agent pitchman for the Chicago Bulls, whether the target was LeBron James all the way back in 2010 or Carmelo Anthony two summers ago.

But Phil Jackson believes that by acquiring the former MVP point guard for one starter, a rookie and a veteran with an expiring contract, the Knicks enhanced their bid to land the biggest free agent on the market, Kevin Durant.

 

According to a source, Jackson told Rose of his plan to pursue Durant starting on July 1st. That in and of itself may be the worst-kept secret in the NBA, along with the notion that Golden State, San Antonio, Miami and both Los Angeles clubs are also planning to recruit Durant.

The difference now, however, is that the Knicks are not only selling Durant on Madison Square Garden and Madison Ave., but also a roster that features a triangle we can all understand: Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and Rose, who turns 28 in October.

 

Jax takes calculated gamble but Rose has more to lose than Knicks

It’s a long-shot, of course. Staying in Oklahoma City or even signing with the Warriors or Spurs is a better basketball option for Durant. That’s assuming Durant is true to his word that when he signs next month it will strictly be a “basketball decision.”

 

But the Knicks acquisition of Rose does harken back to the Knicks old way of conducting business: Get the big name, make a splash.

Or have you already forgotten Steve Francis, Baron Davis and to some extent, Amare Stoudemire?

Three different front offices, same business model.

 

It also marks a dramatic philosophical 180 for Jackson, the Knicks president who in March went to great lengths to tell reporters that he doesn’t really want or need a ball dominant point guard.

 

And we’re not kidding about great length. Phil’s answer to the point guard question rambled on for just over four minutes and included names like Kyle Macy, Steve Colter and Sam Vincent. Google them if you’d like.

 

“Chasing a point guard, where it becomes just an obsession, isn’t necessary,” Phil said three months ago in L.A. “It’s not necessary. We can play the game without that.”

 

So why Rose, a classic scoring point guard who excels in pick and rolls and isolation?

 

This is all about adding a star to add a bigger star, Durant. This has been the Knicks way for years. And other than Amare helping the Knicks land Carmelo and Carmelo helping to land Jason Kidd, this plan has backfired.

 

But when the prize is Durant and Jackson’s legacy is on the line, the allure of a championship run is too enticing to reject.

The key will be whether Phil has a Plan B. If not Durant, what next? You want to believe Phil has thought this one through, unlike his clumsy coaching search that produced a guy in Jeff Horn ack who doesn’t run the triangle and didn’t have a history with Phil. (Up until a month ago, those were Phil’s prerequisites for the job.)

So if you’re counting, that makes two dramatic philosophical changes in five weeks. Phil can make you dizzy.

 

“We have priorities, backups, secondaries, fall backs,” Jackson said on Thursday.

 

The Knicks have plenty of open roster spots and starting jobs available: center and shooting guard. And considering Rose’s medical history, the Knicks would be wise to invest in a pretty good backup point guard. Sadly, Jose Calderon would have been perfect.

Joakim Noah is the type of hard working, selfless player that you’d like. But Noah, like Rose, is breaking down. It’s risky to have two question marks in your starting lineup.

The alternative would be Dwight Howard. Laugh all you want, but you tell me Dwight isn’t the quintessential Knick — big name, big splash.

 

And like Stevie Francis before him, Dwight also has stops in Orlando and Houston on his resume. Admit it, you feel it happening all over again.

 

Phil Jackson turns 71 in September and has zero playoffs on his resume as an executive. His claim to fame as a Knicks president includes the worst season in franchise history and Porzingis.

One is pretty awful. The other is very promising. But Phil can’t wait around forever for Porzingis to become the hybrid of Durant and Dirk Nowitzki.

We all know the only thing bigger than Phil’s bank account is his ego. He wants to make the playoffs before he rides off into the sunset. A healthy Derrick Rose helps. Landing Durant is a game changer.

 

That’s what Phil Jackson sees. Hey, knock yourself out. Make it happen.

But he’d better have a good back-up plan.

Edited June 24, 2016 by hahnz

[azraelmd]

About f$&@ing time for my favorite team....

 

Rose

Alfalo

Melo

Porzingis

Dwight!

[Guiness]

About f$&@ing time for my favorite team....

 

Rose

Alfalo

Melo

Porzingis

Dwight!

 

i wouldn't break out the bubbly just yet. Derrick Rose is the only move they have done up to this point. As far as Afflalo is concerned, he declined the player option for this season so he's a free agent right now. Now sure if the Knicks will give him an offer. They only have 5 players under contract, they gotta fill out the rest of their roster. Dwight Howard did say that he considers the Knicks as an option to play for, although from what i read, the Knicks aren't saying anything as far as showing any interest in his services so i'm not sure if they are going to make him an offer but he is available so he can be considered an option. With the departure of Lopez they are looking to get a big man in free agency, There's a bunch of free agents that the Knicks are interested in based on reports. Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah. Of course, the big name free agent that's available is Kevin Durant and it has been reported that Phil is planning to speak with him to get him to possibly sign with the Knicks. It would be a Hail Mary miracle if he decides to sign with the Knicks, because there are a lot of teams that are in better situations as far as contending for championships than where the Knicks are right now, Of course OKC is at the top of that list, the Spurs, Warriors, Miami, Lakers among those teams that are interested.

 

So i'm just waiting right now on what kind of moves Phil Jackson is going to make to get the team back in contention

[Guiness]

Derrick Rose Intoduced as a Knick in Press Conference

Ian Begley ESPN Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- Derrick Rose isn't sure why he was traded, but he said he is grateful that the Chicago Bulls sent him to the New York Knicks.

"I would like to tell them, 'Thank you,'" Rose said of the Bulls at Friday's news conference introducing him as the newest member of the Knicks.

 

Rose, a Chicago native, elaborated on why he'd thank the Bulls for trading him to New York.

 

"Getting me another start," said Rose, who played seven seasons in Chicago, missing the 2012-13 season due to injury. "I'm grateful to be where I'm at. I could have been anywhere. Not saying all the other teams are bad places, but to be in this market, to be in the city [with] the legacy, the history of basketball. ... I'm grateful. I'm grateful to be here. I feel like they're going to appreciate me a little bit more."

 

The Knicks sent center Robin Lopez and guards Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon to Chicago on Wednesday in exchange for guard Justin Holiday, Rose and a 2017 second-round pick.

Rose is entering the final year of his contract, which is worth $21.3 million. He said he's hopeful that he can re-sign with the Knicks after the 2016-17 season.

 

"I hope so. With all of the attention and all of the congratulations I got, I hope I'll be able to play the rest of my career here," Rose said. "But like I said, this is a business. I'll guess we'll have to see how this one year goes. But I'm putting my all into this. I'm working my butt off as far as my work ethic, and we'll have to see."

 

Rose alienated some around the league when he said before the 2015-16 season that he was preparing for free agency in 2017. On Friday, he downplayed the idea that he'd be motivated by free agency in the coming season.

 

"This time I'm just being patient, taking all this in," he said. "I feel like something special is going to happen. I really don't know when. But I feel like something special is going to happen with all the hard work I did."

 

In a first-person essay written on The Cycle, Rose said he had no ill will toward the Bulls for the trade, but would use it as motivation. He wrote that the trade was "a blessing."

"I understand that this is a business and the Bulls have their plans, their own ideas with what direction they want to go with the team, but I'm gonna use this as motivation," Rose wrote. "I was with them for eight years and they let me go. There's no hard feelings, no grudges. They're trying to do what's best for the team. I totally understand that. But I don't think I would be wrong for using this as motivation."

 

Rose, who has played in just 39 percent of possible games since the start of the 2012-13 season, said at his news conference that he's feeling healthy entering the offseason. He said he hopes to continue to regain his rhythm, something he said started to return during the 2015-16 season.

 

"I felt like my body held up," he said. "This summer is all about conditioning and catching that rhythm. ... As far as putting expectations or trying to see how many games I'll play, there's no point in doing that. I don't want to jinx myself."

 

Rose added that he might get involved in recruiting free agents to New York, something he shied away from while in Chicago.

One player he'd like to play with is longtime Bulls teammate Joakim Noah, who will be a free agent this summer.

"Oh, I want him," Rose said. "He knows that I want to play with him."

The Knicks will have approximately $30 million to spend in free agency this summer. They hope to find a center in the offseason to fill the void left by Lopez, and Noah will certainly be an option.

Sources say the Knicks will be one of the teams Noah considers in free agency.

Rose also addressed on Friday the difficulty associated with being traded from his hometown. Rose led the Bulls to the top of the Eastern Conference in 2010-2011, when he won the league's MVP award.

 

At the time, the former No. 1 pick seemed destined to be the face of the franchise for years to come. But Rose suffered an ACL tear in the playoffs the following season and has had trouble staying healthy over long stretches since that injury.

"It was just an emotional time for me. Chicago was more than just a home. It groomed me into the man that I am today. All my family and friends are back there. It's one of the reasons why I changed my number to 25," Rose, who wore No. 1 with the Bulls, said of his new number. "I'm playing in New York, but I'm bringing something from Chicago with me out here."

Rose added that he's incredibly motivated to return to the playoffs and share the court with Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis, whom he praised as a skilled, unselfish young talent.

 

"That's somebody I would die to play with, and now I got two of those guys and whoever the front office puts around us," Rose said. "I know they're going to do the right thing. So it's exciting here. It should be exciting here next year."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU76Ij465H4

[guayaboso]

hopefully they get a healthy version, definetely his best years are behind him but if he can be the PG that can squeeZe the greatness from KP6, thats be awesome. hope NYK can get a solid and consistent bench, the bench from last year was promising especially in defense, but everything went to the drain on their consistency. Hopefully coach Jeff can male this team run, mmade more suited to the players' strengths and KP6 develops into a monster of a player in his second year.

[Guiness]

Joakim Noah’s Knicks momentum keeps building

By Marc Berman

June 27, 2016

 

 

The positive feelings between Joakim Noah and the Knicks are mutual.

According to an NBA source, the Knicks have “a very high interest” in signing Noah to play center in a frontcourt that would feature Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. Another NBA source said Noah is eager for at least a sitdown with the Knicks.

The Knicks traded last season’s starting center, Robin Lopez, in the deal that brought back Derrick Rose.

 

As The Post reported, Noah, a New York City product, was in town over the weekend and went clubbing with Rose on Thursday night. Rose confirmed at his press conference Friday he was already in the process of recruiting Noah.

 

A report the Wizards were planning to offer Noah the max was shot down, but they should have interest. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday money isn’t the No. 1 priority for Noah. The newspaper cited three factors: a chance to win, a chance to start and finish games and joining a club that would get behind his Noah’s Arc Foundation. The report stated it would be “naive” to think Noah would just go for the highest offer.

 

That’s good news for the Knicks. They have approximately $30 million in cap space — factoring in three cap holds for their own choice free agents — and still need to spend on a starting shooting guard.

 

The Knicks also could face opposition from Minnesota, where former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau runs the show. The Bulls are not believed to be in the picture, though they have requested a meeting with Noah.

 

“Oh, I want him. He knows that. I think his family knows that. I think everybody knows that,” Rose said at his press conference.

“Even last night, I was talking to him about it. He’s in a position where he got injured twice last year, it was his contract year and he has to figure out what he wants to do. I can’t get mad with the decision he makes soon. He knows I would want to play with him.”

The Knicks don’t have a meeting set up with Kevin Durant, who will be with Carmelo Anthony at a press conference Monday to announce the US Olympic Team. Durant has spent the past several days in New York, where his Roc Nation agency is based.

 

The Vertical reported six teams — Warriors, Heat, Celtics, Clippers, Spurs and Thunder — will meet with Durant on July 1. Durant won’t even meet with the Wizards, his hometown team. On Sunday, the Oklahoman listed the top eight contenders for Durant and the Knicks were missing from the list.

[Guiness]

Sources: Knicks strong favorites to sign free agent Joakim Noah

• Marc Stein Ian Begley 1:43 PM CT

The New York Knicks have emerged as strong favorites to sign free-agent big man Joakim Noah, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that multiple teams interested in Noah have all but conceded already that the Knicks are his runaway preferred destination in free agency.

No deals can be officially signed until July 7, but teams and free agents can start coming to verbal agreements on contracts ‎starting Friday at 12:01 a.m.

 

Noah, a former All-Star center, is scheduled to meet with Knicks president Phil Jackson at the beginning of free agency on Friday, according to sources.

 

There is significant interest on both sides. Noah, a native New Yorker, had expressed strong interest in signing with the Knicks in recent days, sources say. He is close with Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose, his former teammate in Chicago, who said last week that he'd like Noah to join him in New York.

 

The Knicks are eager to land a center this offseason. They have prioritized the position in free agency after trading Robin Lopez, last year's starting center, to Chicago in the Rose trade.

 

Noah, 31, is coming off a 2015-16 season filled with injury. He suffered two significant shoulder injuries that limited him to just 29 games last season, missing nearly a month with a left shoulder tear and undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a left shoulder dislocation in January.

 

Noah spent a portion of his summer at The Peak Performance Project in Santa Barbara, California. He has been outspoken in years' past about how much he loves Chicago, and there is still some hope within his camp that he will stay with the Bulls, but the likely option is that Noah will take a big-money deal from a team and look for a new start.

 

"I'm very focused on free agency," Noah said in June, according to international website Sportando. "I spent the last 10 years in Chicago. There were good moments and bad moments, but now I have an incredible opportunity for a player, being recruited by a team. I definitely want to live that kind of experience. It's new for me, but it's something very intriguing for a player."

 

The Knicks have roughly $30 million to spend in free agency and hope to fit Noah into that space while keeping enough room to add a starting shooting guard. Courtney Lee and Eric Gordon are among the guards the Knicks have a level of interest in, sources say.

Some members of the organization expressed optimism earlier in the week about getting an audience with free agent Kevin Durant. But if the club comes to terms quickly with Noah, it's unlikely that it will have the requisite cap space to sign Durant to a max contract. The Knicks are currently not among the teams that have secured a meeting with Durant.

 

[Guiness]

Joakim Noah Will Reportedly Sign With The Knicks For $18 Million

It looks like Joakim Noah is heading home to NY.

The NBA's free agency period will officially being tomorrow, July 1st, but there are already some deals in place, one of which appears to be Joakim Noah signing with the New York Knicks.

 

According to multiple outlets, many potential suitors for Noah believe it's a certainty that he'll be reunited with Derrick Rose in his hometown of NYC, at a price of $18 million per year.

 

Under the new salary cap, free agents are going to be getting a lot more money than they're probably worth, so the $18 million a year really isn't as outrageous as it sounds. That said, the 31-year old center is coming off a year where he only played in 29 games, and the year before that he averaged just 7.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

 

But let's be real, the Knicks aren't signing Noah to score the ball- they need a guy to be tenacious on the glass and protect the rim with the ferocity of a pizza rat. And, considering Noah is coming off roughly 10 months of rest, it's not entirely ridiculous to think he can do just that. Again, we're being optimistic here.

 

Some people have already written him off but Knicks fans need to be hopeful that he still has some gas left in the tank. $18 million worth of gas.

[Guiness]

Brandon Jennings Agrees to Join Knicks

By VICTOR MATHER

JULY 4, 2016

 

 

Point guard Brandon Jennings said he had agreed to join the Knicks, where he will back up the newly acquired Derrick Rose.

“Can’t wait to play in the Mecca!! Excited to be joining such a historic franchise @NYKNICKS!!!” Jennings posted on Twitter on Monday.

After a sterling high school career in Compton, Calif., and at prep school in Virginia, Jennings opted to pass on the one-and-done college experience, instead playing for Lottomatica Roma in Italy. He became the first American to play professionally in Europe directly out of high school.

“Going to college was something that I didn’t want to do,” Jennings said at the time. Although Jennings’s move was predicted to start a flood of talented high schoolers to Europe, few have followed him.

Drafted No. 10 by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2009, the 6-foot-1 Jennings came out of the gate fast in the N.B.A., scoring 55 points in just his seventh regular-season game.

He averaged between 15.5 and 19.1 points in his four seasons with the Bucks and still seemed to have the makings of a star when he was traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2013.

But a torn Achilles’ in January 2015 kept him out for nearly a year, and soon after his return, the Pistons traded him to the Orlando Magic. Since his return from injury, his playing time has been limited, and he has averaged only 6.9 points a game.

“It’s been a challenging year,” he told The Orlando Sentinel soon after arriving to the Magic. “Coming off the bench, of course, has been challenging for me. It’s the first time I’ve done it in my career.”

The Knicks have remade their team in the off-season, putting together a package of players to acquire Rose from the Bulls and landing the free-agent center Joakim Noah, also from Chicago, and shooting guard Courtney Lee.

Jennings, 26, will sign a one-year deal, according to multiple news media reports.

[Guiness]

Knicks Full Introduce Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee & Brandon Jennings

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYsr5tPk-oA

[Guiness]

Inside Knicks’ ‘high-energy’ workout as bonding gets started

By Marc Berman

July 16, 2016 | 6:49pm

While president Phil Jackson is holed up at his Montana lakehouse, the bonding of his new Knicks began in a private gym in Los Angeles on Thursday.

 

Supervised by personal trainer Rob McClanaghan, Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings, Kristaps Porzingis and Sasha Vujacic mixed it up during a spirited 90-minute workout. McClanaghan has been Rose’s offseason trainer since the former Bulls point guard matriculated to the University of Memphis in 2007.

 

McClanaghan has also trained Jennings for five years, though the two Knicks point guards had never worked out together until Thursday. Rose also never even had met Porzingis or Vujacic, two of the five Knicks players back from last season. The club will have at least nine new faces on the roster next season. Camaraderie wasn’t built in a day, but Thursday got it started.

“Everyone really came together,’’ McClanaghan told The Post in a phone interview from L.A. “All have a similar mindset — let’s just win here and do whatever it takes and sacrifice.

 

“The workout was high-energy, guys having fun, talking a lot of trash — even me. Derrick loved being on the court with Porzingis.’’

The four Knicks worked on a series of halfcourt drills. McClanaghan ended the session with a shooting contest.

“Then it got competitive and they came together,’’ McClanaghan said.

 

Porzingis was in L.A. for the ESPYs, prompting Rose’s invitation. Rose and McClanaghan have worked out in L.A. for several years.

Porzingis is back in New York now, but Vujacic, the former Laker, plans to work out with Rose and Jennings periodically into August. Coincidentally, McClanaghan is also the personal trainer of new Knicks shooting guard Courtney Lee, who is getting to L.A. on Aug. 1 with plans on working with Rose and Jennings.

 

Rose has been in L.A. working with McClanaghan the last six weeks, since before the June 22 Knicks blockbuster.

“It’s the earliest we’ve started,’’ McClanaghan said. “Because it’s the first time he wasn’t in the playoffs.’’

 

Or injured. Rose’s two knee surgeries (ACL and torn meniscus) cost him a lot of offseason gym time — which is why this offseason is so huge in terms of working on actual basketball. McClanaghan has worked on all aspects of Rose’s game — pull-up jumpers being one of the areas of emphasis. Off the court, it’s been weight training and yoga.

 

“I’m not worried — he put in his work and time in,’’ McClanaghan said. “He listens to his body, which is important. Now he’s ready to make the extra jump out there. It’s been a solid six weeks. With the commitment and work he’s put in, he’s ready to have a great year. He’s excited about a fresh start.”

 

Last season was a good step as Rose played 66 games after a rough start with a freak eye injury. It was a big development from the previous three seasons. He missed the entire 2012-13 season after undergoing ACL surgery from the prior spring; he missed 72 games in 2013-14 because of a torn meniscus; and he sat out 31 games in 2014-15 because of ankle, hamstring and knee issues.

On the first day of training camp last September, Taj Gibson cracked Rose in the eye and he missed training camp with blurred vision.

“He was ready to go and it put a damper on things right away,’’ McClanaghan admitted.

 

Jennings, whom Jackson has challenged to win Sixth Man of the Year, will back up Rose and may come with more question marks than Rose. Regaining complete explosiveness after an Achilles tendon rupture is considered more arduous than ACL tears. Jennings sustained the rupture in January 2015 and didn’t play another game until nearly a year later — in late December last season.

“Last summer we couldn’t do anything,’’ said McClanaghan, who is based in Rhode Island during the season. “He’s getting back to old form. Brandon is the hardest worker when he shows up — no one works harder and I’m not just saying that.”

There’s more work to be done with Rose and Jennings before training camp, but McClanaghan feels good vibes.

“Everyone has their own great motivation, everyone wants to be together and win,’’ McClanaghan said.