For Derrick Rose, what’s old is new again.
Rose has signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in a move that reunites the 2011 NBA MVP with three mainstays from his days in Chicago – coach Tom Thibodeau, as well as Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson. The Timberwolves did not release the terms, but a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the deal is for the remainder of the season.
Minnesota will be the fourth team Rose plays for, and technically his fourth franchise in the last 11 months. Rose spent his first eight NBA years in Chicago, five of those with Thibodeau as his coach. He was with New York last season and started this season with Cleveland, but appeared in only 16 games with the Cavaliers largely because of injuries.
The Cavaliers traded the former All-Star to Utah last month as part of the massive restructuring of their team, and the Jazz waived him shortly afterward.
Rose has been working out since, and this week became a father again – just days before striking the deal with the Timberwolves.
Miami guard Dwyane Wade, who was teammates with Rose earlier this season in Cleveland, said he expected Rose and Thibodeau would reunite – and insisted the 29-year-old guard still, when healthy, can be elite.
”He was the best player in training camp,” Wade said, noting that LeBron James was hurt for most of Cavs camp last fall. ”It’s always been about health with D-Rose.”
Rose took some time off earlier this season to evaluate his options. He’s joining a Timberwolves team bidding for its first postseason trip since 2004, and entered play Thursday holding the sixth seed in a very close Western Conference race – where four games separate the eight teams from third place to 10th.
Rose said last summer in an interview with AP that his confidence is unwavering, and that he simply needs the right opportunity.
”When I get on a good team and I’m still hooping the same way, what are you going to say then?” Rose said in the AP interview. ”The only thing that you’ll can say is that I can still play.”
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