Knicks Buy Out Jalen Rose

According to the NY Times the Knicks have bought out the contract of shooting guard/small forward Jalen Rose. Rose finished the pre-season with no points and only two shots taken for about 10 minutes a game. Clearly Rose was not part of the future rotation for the Knicks, and Isiah decided to buy out the 33 year old's contract, in order to open up a potential roster space for the Knicks, and prevent Rose from becoming a distraction on the bench.

The Knicks roster now stands at 14, and it is not clear who will fill the 15th slot. Might I suggest a return of Qyntel Woods? He wasn't signed by any team for the pre-season, and I thought he showed some promise while playing sparingly last season with the Knicks. On the other hand, Woods is not a power forward or center, which is the Knicks biggest need at this point. Maybe Isiah has something else up his sleeve, like a potential trade.

With Rose's exit Quentin Richardson has become the odds on favorite for the nod at the small forward position for Wednesday night's opener against the Grizzlies. Richardson struggled mightily for most of last season, and he has been terrific this far in the pre-season, mixing hustle plays with solid shooting (although not from behind the arc), rebounding, and good defense. Richardson could turn out to be one of the Knicks un-sung heroes.