#3 Derrick Rose – New York Knicks
Derrick Rose was traded to the New York Knicks from the Detroit Pistons ahead of this year’s trade deadline and since he has been with the Knicks, he has made a huge impact. He has started in just three of the 27 games he has played with the Knicks to this point in the season, yet he is still one of their best players that they have relied on so much.
In his limited time with the Knicks, Rose has averaged 13.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and has shot 45.6% from the floor, 35.4% from three-point range.
While you can easily point to Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett as being the driving forces of this year’s Knicks team, Derrick Rose has impacted them in more ways than just offensively in the second-unit.
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The Knicks are a heavy defensive-focused team and while he is not known for being a hard-nosed defender, Rose has been very physical on that end of the court this year and has been one of the better perimeter defenders on this Knicks team since he joined them.
This month alone, Rose has elevated his overall game and was one of the key reasons why the Knicks are 11-4 this month and were on a 9-game win streak at one point! This month, Derrick Rose is averaging 14.2 points, 4.0 assists and shooting 47.5% off-the-bench, which is why he deserves to be in the running for Sixth Man of the Year.
