Derrick Rose will try to revitalize his career and the Knicks’ woeful point-guard situation at the same time.
In a stunning pre-draft trade, the Knicks announced Wednesday they acquired the former MVP from the Bulls along with guard Justin Holiday and a 2017 second-round pick. The Knicks sent center Robin Lopez and point guards Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon to Chicago in the deal.
The Knicks were desperate for point-guard help and the free-agent list is modest, especially since the Knicks know Mike Conley is not coming, according to a source. There also wasn’t enough front-office support for the second-best free-agent point guard, Rajon Rondo.
“This is an exciting day for New York and our fans,” Knicks coach Jeff 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, only 27, was the 2009 Rookie of the Year and 2011 MVP, but his career has been derailed by major knee injuries. After tearing his ACL on April 28, 2012, he endured two more knee surgeries.
“He’s in a different phase in his career,’’ one NBA scout familiar with the Bulls’ inner workings told The Post. “Injuries have taken a toll on him. I think he needs a change of environment. Things had gone stale in Chicago on both ends. It’s better than what the Knicks had. It’s an upgrade at that position. I thought Robin had an upside, but you got to give to get.”
In a surprise, the Knicks also waived Tony Wroten, who was rehabbing from two ACL surgeries and had not yet played a game for them.
Rose is in the final year of his contract, set to make $21.6 million, and looking to prove he hasn’t lost anything from his previous spot among the league’s elite. In the Knicks’ eyes, it’s a risk worth taking, believing a working trio of Rose-Kristaps Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony can be a playoff club.
However, the trade has shifted their needs. The Knicks have enhanced their most vulnerable position, but now go into free agency without a starting center or starting shooting guard. The 2016 free-agent class of centers, however, is stronger than the point-guard class.
After waiving Wroten, the Knicks also will need a backup point guard. But they solidified the starting job for a head coach known to specialize in coaching that position.
General manager Steve Mills said two weeks ago the team’s biggest pursuit would be “a lead guard” in free agency, but now he’s got Rose and that priority has changed.
Center Dwight Howard reportedly has shown interest in coming to the Knicks. The Knicks could still net another Bull as Pau Gasol and New York City product Joakim Noah are both free agents.
Gasol and Noah are both favorites of Phil Jackson and each should consider the Knicks. Gasol has always eyed playing in a big market with cultural opportunities. Al Horford is also a free agent.
With starting shooting guard Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams opting out, the Knicks could have more than $30 million in cap space, even after the trade.
Calderon was deemed on his last legs and Grant was a disappointment as a rookie. After a slow start, Lopez became a low-post force in the triangle that Hornacek still plans to use in some fashion. But Lopez was their largest commodity, in addition to Grant, and the former Blazers big man wouldn’t fit as well in a high-tempo attack.
The 6-foot-3 Rose recently finished his seventh season with the Bulls. He averaged 16.4 points, 4.7 assists and 31.8 minutes over 66 games played, but fear of recurring injury cast a cloud over the franchise.
At a Chicago press conference, Bulls GM Gar Forman, indicating Rose could have left as a free agent after next season, said: “Derrick obviously has meant quite a bit to this team, the organization and the city. We want to thank him. Derrick’s going to have a very good year. We’re all very confident of that. But we had to make a decision we felt was best for us moving forward.”
It was also felt within the Bulls that Rose and Jimmy Butler lacked chemistry
Forman called Lopez “a very, very solid center” and said they likely would have taken Grant last June had he fallen to No. 22.
A fringe rotation player, Holiday (6-6, 185 pounds) averaged 4.5 points in 53 games for the Hawks and Bulls last season. Undrafted out of the University of Washington, he has also played for the 76ers and Warriors since 2012-13. Holiday is the brother of Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday.
That the Bulls would give up on their homegrown product is a stunner, but also a sign they don’t believe he is close to the player he once was.