5 moments that defined the Derrick Rose era in Chicago
Even though the split was coming for quite some time, the end of the Derrick Rose era still comes as a shock.
A five-player blockbuster trade sees Rose land in the Big Apple which ends his roller coaster tenure in the Windy City. Here's a look back on his rise and fall.
A perfect marriage
In 2008, the Chicago Bulls had a 1.7 percent chance of winning the NBA Draft lottery. As fate would have it, the consensus top pick that season was Rose, the hometown kid from Englewood.
It was a match made in heaven.
Rose immediately wowed fans with a superb rookie campaign. Rose beat out the likes of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love to take home Rookie of the Year honors.
Rose showed from the jump that he was the real deal. In his playoff debut as a rookie, Rose put up 36 points (an NBA record shared by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), 11 assists, and four rebounds in an overtime victory on the road against the reigning champion Boston Celtics.
Chicago lost in seven but they gave the Celtics all they could handle, and it left no doubt in the minds of Bulls fans - Rose was the the chosen one to rescue the franchise from the wreckage that followed Michael Jordan's exit.
Meteoric rise
Rose continued to follow in Jordan's footsteps by becoming the Bulls' first All-Star since 1998. Coaches voted in the sophomore guard as a reserve, but that was only a sign of better things to come.
The 2010-11 campaign saw Rose blossom into a superstar. The team hired head coach Tom Thibodeau, added some key veterans like Carlos Boozer, and Chicago dominated the Eastern Conference with a 62-win season with Rose leading the way.
Rose averaged 25 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.7 assists but those gaudy numbers understate his brilliance. He electrified crowds with his death defying forays to the basket. Just ask Goran Dragic - he was one of many printed on a Rose poster that season.
For his efforts, Rose beat out Dwight Howard and LeBron James to become the league's youngest-ever MVP at the age of 22. Rose then guided the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals but came up short against the King.
Devastating knee injuries
With the Bulls poised to challenge for the championship in years to come, Chicago quickly locked Rose into a five-year maximum deal following the 2011 lockout. He rewarded that decision by leading the team to a 50-16 campaign.
But trouble loomed around the corner. Having guided the Bulls to a fourth-straight playoff appearance, Rose injured his left knee in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The victory was already in hand thanks to Rose's near triple-double of 23 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. But Thibodeau's habit of overextending players came back to bite him - Rose suffered the injury with 1:22 left while the Bulls held a 12-point lead.
TNT broadcaster Kevin Harlan gave the harrowing call:
"Uh oh. Rose came down bad on his left foot. See him? Holding onto his knee, holding onto his knee and down. He was flying and then he came down wrong on his left foot."
Replays showed that it was a non-contact injury. Rose zoomed into the lane as he typically does, but his left leg gave out and it left him crumpled in a pained heap.
He had to be helped off the court before being diagnosed with a torn ACL. Rose was slated to miss 8-to-12 months. That injury would keep him out for the entire 2012-13 campaign despite team doctors clearing him for an early return. The Bulls were good to let their superstar rest.
The next season, Rose and the Bulls were thrilled for a reunion. He boasted about being able to jump even higher - an additional five inches he claimed - and aside from some understandable rustiness, Rose looked to be his usual self.
He even hit a game-winner in his third game back from injury.
Rose went down once again a month later. This time the diagnosis was a torn meniscus, but the prognosis was the same. It was yet another season-ending injury.
Losing patience
Fans in Chicago stood behind their point guard until the bitter end, but even those loyal started to lose patience.
The wait was difficult - the Bulls had built around Rose and they were trapped by the uncertainty of his injuries. The longer Rose sat out, the more frustrations grew. Fans braced themselves for a year's absence, but Rose only played 49 games in three years.
Rose threw gas on the fire with off-putting comments that were reasonable on their own, but received poorly given the context of his absences. He went on about how he didn't want to be sore at his son's graduation. He rubbed his hands together at the prospect of becoming a free agent under the escalating salary cap.
Rose still showed flashes of greatness - like his game-winner against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the 2015 playoffs. But the tone changed. Fans lost faith in his future, so his occasional heroics only served as painful reminders of what could have been.
A new hero emerges
It gets lost within the context of missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years, but Rose had his healthiest campaign with 61 appearances this season.
But it didn't really matter. If anything, Rose's return only hindered the growing talents of Jimmy Butler, who was fitted for the crown when Rose vacated the throne. With both players demanding the ball, reports trickled out about the two players being at odds.
Both players dutifully tried to quiet the drama, but that wasn't the problem. The Bulls struggled with both players on the floor as their skill sets overlapped as it became clear that only one could stay.
As their two stars struggled, the rest of Chicago's supporting cast around Rose grew old and weary. Thibodeau and Luol Deng were long gone. Joakim Noah broke down. Taj Gibson was marginalized.
It became abundantly clear that the team needed to rebuild, and Rose was the fractured figurehead of a lost generation survived by painful disappointment.
The Knicks trade dealt the finishing blow, and it completed Rose's tragic journey in Chicago. The hometown kid turned savior went out with a whimper as both he, and the Bulls enter an era of uncertainty.