According to ESPN, NBA point guard Derrick Rose has agreed to a deal on Monday with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The deal will be for the remainder of the season as teams get ready for a playoff push.
Free agent guard Derrick Rose is signing with Minnesota for the rest of the season, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 8, 2018
The former MVP was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz at the trade deadline as part of a seismic roster shift. After the Jazz waived him, a couple of teams inquired about the free agent, but no one pulled the trigger until Monday.
Rose's history with Thibs
Rose will see some familiar faces when he touches down in Minnesota. Head coach Tom Thibodeau called the shots when Rose and the Chicago Bulls were vying for Eastern Conference supremacy a few seasons ago. The highlight of the duo's historic run was the 2010-11 season where Rose was named the league's youngest MVP and Thibodeau was named Coach of the Year after tying the most wins (62) for a first-year coach.
Forwards Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson were integral parts of those Bulls teams and complimented Rose like no other teammates have since his departure. While Rose devastated opponents with his speed and scoring, Butler and Gibson were an extension of Thibodeau's staunch defensive prowess.
Despite reaching a conference finals, the team never reached their potential because of Rose's career-altering knee injuries. Now, the gang is reunited with a change of scenery and drastically different roles.
How Rose fits with the Wolves
In the wake of Rose's absence due to serious injury, Butler was forced to transform his game.
He increasingly improved his offensive skillset and now, he's the Wolves' alpha dog. In his first season with Minnesota, Butler is averaging 22 points, over five rebounds and five assists and was named to his fourth straight All-Star game. He's enjoying a career-high 51 percent effective field goal percentage and is the go-to guy for the sixth-ranked team in the Western Conference.
Rose, on the hand, was hurt for a good portion of this season and played spot minutes with the dysfunctional Cavs. He's averaging just 9.8 points and 1.6 assists per game. With budding star Andrew Wiggins and starting point guard Jeff Teague already in the fold, Rose will undoubtedly be relegated to a backup role as the Wolves look to battle in a tight conference playoff race.
Minnesota ranks 28th in bench points per game and will need Rose to provide a spark when he enters the game. He's shown flashes of his old form at times over the past couple of seasons, and he now has the comfortability of playing for his former coach and teammates.
This advantageous situation will be one of the last opportunities the three-time All-Star will have left to prove he still belongs in a league that he once dominated.
