Derrick Rose was once the future of the NBA. Now he’s the present of the New York Knicks.
If that sounds a bit drab, well, it really kind of is, isn’t it?
The Knicks, once again seduced by the memory of past feats and possibilities of glory regained. They’ve thrown these dice and lost before.
Rose, who by the analytics hasn't been even a good player in about four years, and who by the eye test still doesn't look any closer to being the same player who was the league's youngest-ever MVP than he has at any point in the last five years. Who was already weary of the ghosts of expectations in Chicago, now moving to New York.
It’s a match made ... somewhere.
More NBA
• Jonathan Raymond: LeBron James has defied history by carrying Cleveland Cavaliers to NBA title
The one obvious thing is it’s not hard to root for this to work. Half a decade ago Rose was the most exciting thing in basketball, and it would take a particularly soulless individual not to want to see him recapture some part of the electricity that once flowed through him. The Knicks are, or at least should be, a cornerstone franchise of the NBA, and they’ve been diminished long enough. A good Knicks team would be good for the soul of the game.
The one obvious problem is it’s hard to actually envision this working. Even if he had never suffered any of his injuries, Rose will be a 28-year-old point guard next season whose best attributes were his speed and explosiveness, who can’t and never has been able to shoot a three in a league where that has suddenly become one of the most important skills for any wing player.
New York already have one high-usage mid-range isolation beast of questionable defensive value in Carmelo Anthony. The game’s best, probably. Even if Rose can get back to that standard, how exactly do they share the floor?
Maybe he can reinvent himself as a pass-first point guard, running two-man action with Anthony and initiating drive-and-kick looks for Kristaps Porzingis.
Maybe his old spring will come back in a new setting, and he can refashion himself as the kind of hyperactive two guard that thrives in the triangle offence.
There have been flashes. Every now and then Rose will explode past his defender to the rim and, if you saw it in isolation, you would think nothing ever went wrong in his career. He will, occasionally, still rip off a step-back jumper and the soft-touch floater here and there. He still has a good passing eye, he can probe and break down the defence in the middle.
But he just doesn’t have the legs to do quite all of that, at quite an elite level, quite more than infrequently. And it’s a pretty dubious proposition that he will again. More likely, what the Knicks are buying is a instinctive attacker without elite physical attributes to be truly effective and with a broken jumper.
For their part, the Bulls get a highly underrated centre in Robin Lopez, one who will ably fill the Pau Gasol/Joakim Noah void and should pair well on the floor with now-officially-sanctioned franchise cornerstone Jimmy Butler. They get Jose Calderon, who at 34 is still a serviceable NBA point guard. And they get Jerian Grant, who has skills and the foundations of a good defensive game and can maybe yet be moulded into something.
For the chance to move on from the stagnating disappointment of the Derrick Rose era and the $21 million (Dh77m) he is owed next season, that is not bad at all.
For New York, it is also a reasonable price, all in all. If you squint, you can just see him recapturing enough of his old self and teaming with Anthony and Porzingis for one of the more uniquely dangerous attacks in the league.
There is a universe in which this works out phenomenally for the Knicks. It's just that it's been so long since Derrick Rose was that Derrick Rose, that it's hard to really imagine it being this particular universe.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
Six tips to secure your smart home
Most smart home devices are controlled via the owner's smartphone. Therefore, if you are using public wi-fi on your phone, always use a VPN (virtual private network) that offers strong security features and anonymises your internet connection.
Keep your smart home devices’ software up-to-date. Device makers often send regular updates - follow them without fail as they could provide protection from a new security risk.
Use two-factor authentication so that in addition to a password, your identity is authenticated by a second sign-in step like a code sent to your mobile number.
Set up a separate guest network for acquaintances and visitors to ensure the privacy of your IoT devices’ network.
Change the default privacy and security settings of your IoT devices to take extra steps to secure yourself and your home.
Always give your router a unique name, replacing the one generated by the manufacturer, to ensure a hacker cannot ascertain its make or model number.
The biog
Favourite books: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life' by Jane D. Mathews and ‘The Moment of Lift’ by Melinda Gates
Favourite travel destination: Greece, a blend of ancient history and captivating nature. It always has given me a sense of joy, endless possibilities, positive energy and wonderful people that make you feel at home.
Favourite pastime: travelling and experiencing different cultures across the globe.
Favourite quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
Favourite Movie: Mona Lisa Smile
Favourite Author: Kahlil Gibran
Favourite Artist: Meryl Streep
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Tiger%20Stripes%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Amanda%20Nell%20Eu%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zafreen%20Zairizal%2C%20Deena%20Ezral%20and%20Piqa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Results
2.15pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Arrab, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mahaleel, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel.
3.15pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum handicap (TB) Dh200,000 2,000m; Winner: Dolmen, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Amang Alawda, Sandro Paiva, Bakhit Al Ketbi.
4.15pm: The Crown Prince of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 1,200m; Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
4.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m; Winner: Al Jazi, Jesus Rosales, Eric Lemartinel.
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
