Veteran point guard and former NBA MVP Derrick Rose has reached a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team announced on Thursday morning. Rose will be with the team for the remainder of the season.
Veteran point guard and former NBA MVP Derrick Rose has reached a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team announced on Thursday morning. Rose will be with the team for the remainder of the season.
This move reunites Rose with Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau, who was Rose’s coach during their time together with the Chicago Bulls. It's also a reunion for Rose and former Bulls teammates Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and Aaron Brooks. All of them last played together - and were coached by Thibodeau - during the 2014-15 season where the Bulls lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thibodeau was soon fired, but the four of them would play together for one more season after that.
The Tribune reported in August 2016 that the two players got over their minor differences that stemmed from Butler taking exception to Rose’s work ethic. The peacemaking began when they both attended a Cubs-Dodgers game in Los Angeles. Butler, who a source said is pleased by the signing, is rehabilitating from his own knee surgery after tearing his right meniscus last month.
Thibodeau came close to signing Rose last summer in free agency before Rose signed a one-year, minimum deal with the Cavaliers. But bone spurs in his ankle and a second incident in two seasons of leaving his team to contemplate his future in basketball led to Rose falling out of the Cavaliers’ rotation.
The Cavaliers traded Rose to the Jazz last month and the Jazz waived the 2011 most valuable player shortly thereafter. Rose will be playoff-eligible should the Timberwolves qualify for the first time since 2004.
