Phil Jackson, Jeff Hornacek Comment on Knicks' Trade for Derrick Rose

The New York Knicks announced Wednesday that they acquired point guard Derrick Rose in a package from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for center Robin Lopez and guards Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon, and president of basketball operations Phil Jackson took time Thursday to discuss the blockbuster move. 

Speaking to reporters before the 2016 NBA draft, Jackson broke down why the Knicks were motivated to make a move for the former MVP even though there's just one year remaining on his contract. 

According to the Record's Steve Popper, Jackson said the team targeted Rose because it "felt the need to have a decisive attack guard."

The Wall Street Journal's Chris Herring elaborated on Jackson's stance:   

Jackson also touched on the possibility of Rose remaining in the Big Apple beyond the 2016-17 season, according to Newsday's Al Iannazzone: 

"I thought he recovered really well towards the end of the year," Jackson said of Rose's 2015-16 contributions, per the Knicks' official Twitter account.  

Although Rose appeared in his most games (66) since the 2010-11 season, he rarely resembled the surgical floor general who once sliced and diced through defenses en route to being labeled one of the game's premier superstars at the start of the decade. 

Specifically, Rose converted a career-worst 51 percent of his shots inside three feet last season despite attempting a plurality of his total looks (30 percent) from close range. 

But to Jackson's point, Rose did play some of his best ball late in the season. After averaging 15.9 points and 4.8 assists while shooting 40.8 percent from the field prior to the All-Star break, the 27-year-old posted nightly tallies of 17.4 points and 4.6 assists on 46.8 percent shooting from the field and 37.5 percent shooting from three. 

"He may not be the Derrick Rose from four or five [years] ago, with all the speed," Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek said, according to Herring. "But he's still pretty darn quick."

Namely, Hornacek focused on Rose's ability to help the Knicks get up and down the floor at a faster clip after they ranked 26th in pace last season. 

“We want to try to push it a little more," he said, per the Knicks' Twitter account. 

As far as team building goes, Jackson hinted at how the Knicks will try to replace Lopez in the middle of their attack, per Herring: 

ESPN.com's Ian Begley pointed to impending free agents Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard as possible targets, and Hornacek told reporters he believes Rose will be able to help attract other stars to Madison Square Garden. 

"The better players you have, the more other players will gravitate to that," he said, per the team's Twitter account. 

Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.