UPDATE (4:05 p.m. ET): It’s official. The New York Knicks announced Wednesday afternoon they have acquired Derrick Rose in a trade with the Chicago Bulls.
ORIGINAL STORY: The NBA’s first blockbuster trade of the offseason just got upstaged by an even bigger one.
The Chicago Bulls will trade three-time All-Star Derrick Rose, guard Justin Holiday and a 2017 second-round pick to the New York Knicks in return for big man Robin Lopez and guards Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon, the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson reported Wednesday, citing a source.
Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the Bulls and Knicks were discussing the trade.
The reported trade is a major move for both teams, as the Bulls finally are parting ways with Rose after consistent speculation he might leave Chicago. The first overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft and the league’s MVP in 2011, Rose constantly has battled injuries since tearing his ACL during the 2011-12 season.
The 27-year-old still averaged 16.4 points and 4.7 assists per game for the Bulls last season while playing in 66 games, though, and he could play a role in helping the moribund Knicks turn their fortunes around.
Chicago will get a decent return in Lopez, Grant and Calderon. The 23-year-old Grant showed flashes of promise in his rookie season with New York, Lopez averaged 10.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game last season, and Calderon shot a team-best 41 percent from 3-point range during the 2015-16 campaign.
Thumbnail photo via Noah K. Murray/USA TODAY Sports Images
