Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks Outlook: Dwyane Wade Returns to Action

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:05 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Daniel Coughlin/FanSided via Pippen Ain't Easy

Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah are playing a Chicago Bulls game! Oh yeah, as the other team. The Bulls head to New York for a Thursday night matchup with Rose and Noah, their second meeting of the season and first between former team and players in their new home.

There is so much to unpack about the current Knicks situation. Things are looking dire in the Big Apple. It’s been well documented that Rose was a no call, no show to work at the beginning of the week. And there have been various reports about the situation.

Rose is back with his team and played in their Wednesday night loss, scoring 25 points in just under 32 minutes. You might still be focused on Rose, but what I’m trying to get at here is this: The Knicks lost. They’ve been doing a lot of that lately. They are 1-9 in their last 10 games, including a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on a last-second T.J. McConnell dagger.

In addition to Rose missing Monday, Carmelo Anthony and Kyle O’Quinn both managed to get ejected. It’s a fun, fun time in New York.

Chicago is coming off a close finish that also resulted in a loss, but saw the reintroduction of Rajon Rondo after a string of DNP-CDs. It seemed like they were either going to have to play him or just put him in a wicker basket and set him adrift in the Chicago River. They chose to play him and it didn’t turn out to be disastrous, though that probably had a lot to do with the absence of both Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler.

It’s going to be a fun one with plenty to talk about, let’s look at some of the keys to this game.

Nov 4, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose (25) defends Chicago Bulls guard Rajon Rondo (9) during the first quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Derrick Rose and the New York State of Mind

Rose was absent on Monday. It was a bad thing. There was a lot of concern because it appeared that Rose was unable to located and non-responsive. Turns out he was fine, though it then raised many questions about his state of mind.

Rose might be struggling from being away from his mother and son for an extended period of time, but he’s also been struggling with the rest of the Knicks squad.

However, he put up a big double-double back at the beginning of November when he made his first trip back to Chicago as a Knick. And they won. Most surprising was Rose getting 11 assists. That has proven to be a season-high mark for Rose, the only time he has surpassed eight assists all season.

It was possible that Rose was going to face a suspension from New York when he skipped out of town at the beginning of the week, but he was just fined and then jumped right back into action. Bad for people who picked up Ron Baker in fantasy, not that I did that. Unless I did. Well, I did. That was a poor choice.

Impossible to say what Rose will do against the Bulls. But if we’re going off his previous performance against his old team, he’s probably going to try and ball out.

Oct 29, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) dunks the ball during the third quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at Madison Square Garden. New York Knicks won 111-104. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Kristaps Problems

Chicago couldn’t stop the phenomenal young big in their first meeting this season. Kristaps Porzingis put up 27 points, not his best outing this season, though among a handful of his best games this year for putting up points.

Recently, Porzingis hasn’t been quite the WorldStar basketballing champion of New York we’re used to seeing on the court. After a stretch of inactive games, he’s had a string of progressively worse performances. He played 23:55 against the 76ers on Wednesday night and managed just nine points and four rebounds to go with two blocks.

More from Pippen Ain't Easy

Bad games happen to every player in the league, but the struggles of Yung Staps are frustrating for everyone who enjoys basketball. He’s so much fun to watch and he plays on a genuinely poor team. It was ugly at the end of the loss to Philadelphia as the Sixers were able to push in transition for their last second win off a Porzingis air ball on an open corner 3-pointer.

If there was ever a time for Porzingis to bounce back, it would be on his home court against some combination of Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and/or Bobby Portis. He can stretch the floor well beyond the 3-point line or he can use his comical length to work over his defender in the block. He’s really good, really fun to watch, and could present a lot of coverage problems for Chicago.

Feb 24, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Cristiano Felicio (6) is defended by Washington Wizards center Nene Hilario (42) during the second half at the United Center. Chicago won 109-104. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

The Rotation Blues

Hey, we’re back to the rotation blues, my friends. With Wade and Butler sitting, Hoiberg used Rondo off the bench. And it worked well for the most part.

That’s about to go out the window. Wade will be back and he had a huge game against the Knicks last time the two teams met, notching a double-double with 35 points and 10 rebounds. It’s doubtful that Wade has another game like that in him, but he did rest for their game against the Washington Wizards in addition to their next rest day. The point is that he might go off again.

One thing that generally impedes a player like Wade from going off is a ball stopper. The kind of player that needs to have the ball in their hands in order to impact the game. And that is the exact type of player that Rondo has been and is still to this day.

If Butler is healthy, that’s going to create even more problems. Jimmy is in the MVP conversation for many and should absolutely be an All-Star this year. He also doesn’t work well with players that have to hold on to the ball or clog the lane. If that happens, defenses can pack it in and make it very difficult for Butler to take advantage of his incredibly accurate free throw shooting and incredible ability to finish through contact.

Butler also plays best with players that come off the Bulls bench. Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic really help to open of the game for Jimmy. They don’t require the ball in order to run motion, set up scoring chances or create space. In other words, they are players who are particularly complementary to players like Butler.

It will be interesting to see who Fred Hoiberg decides to use. Denzel Valentine is coming off a huge game. Rondo played well in his return – off the bench, without Butler or Wade – and might be in line for more minutes off the bench on Thursday night. What about Cristiano Felicio and Jerian Grant? There are a lot of things for Hoiberg and the Bulls to figure out about their roster, still. Hopefully, Hoiberg makes the right choices for his personnel.

Plus, we all know how Rondo plays during national broadcast games.

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