Former Chicago Bulls D-Rose and Thibs thriving with Knicks

Since first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls have struggled to find sustained success in the win column this season, a lot of former players from this team were put under the microscope around the NBA’s landscape. The Bulls don’t have a schedule that lightens up in the slightest in the near future either.

Two very notable former Bulls that are thriving elsewhere this year that are worth noting are with the New York Knicks. As one of the most improved teams in the Eastern Conference this season, the Knicks are doing so well partly thanks to the efforts of new head coach Tom Thibodeau and former 2010-11 MVP point guard Derrick Rose.

While the Bulls looked like they could very well be one of the most improved teams in the East, they’ve largely remained fool’s gold thus far. Despite major acquisitions and upgrades to the roster, coaching staff, and front office since the pause last year, the Bulls haven’t really elevated their success in the win column all that much during the regular season so far.

Meanwhile, the Knicks took a team that was largely floundering in the East last season, and now could be one of the top five seeds in the conference this year. As of the morning of April 26, the Knicks hold a record of 34-27, good for fourth place in the standings in the East. They are one of the hotter teams in the conference right now too.

Former Chicago Bulls Tom Thibodeau and Derrick Rose standing out

Rose has played really well since getting dealt from the Detroit Pistons to the Knicks a few months back. He is finding a new direction for his team, and producing at a similar efficient level to how he did in his hay day with the Bulls, and recently with the likes of the Minnesota Timberwolves and in better times with the Pistons.

In 25 games played with the Knicks this season, Rose averaged 13.6 points per game, 2.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.5 blocks. And he’s shot a very solid 46 percent from the field, 37 percent from beyond the arc, and 84 percent from the free-throw line.

Rose already has a box plus/minus rating well in the positive, a player efficiency rating north of 17, and nearly two total win shares, in his brief time with the Knicks so far this season. Thibs and Rose are facilitating winning basketball with the Knicks at this point of the season, and they’re a dangerous team led by first-time All-Star power forward Julius Randle.

This is also good to see Rose doing so well with the Knicks, as he was able to reunite with Thibs this season. He’s doing much better in his second stint with the Knicks at 32 years of age than he did the first time around during the 2016-17 campaign.

Bulls fans will get to see Rose and Thibs reuniting with the Knicks firsthand when these two teams meet on the court at Madison Square Garden on April 28. We’ll see if the Bulls can take the season series later this week with the Knicks, as this will be the third matchup between these two teams.

Prior to facing the Knicks on April 28 on the road in the Big Apple, Donovan and the Bulls are set to face the Heat and another former star of the team in Jimmy Butler on the road on April 26. The Bulls will carry 25-35 into that meeting with the Heat at American Airlines Arena.