Fansided

Tom Thibodeau can’t quit Derrick Rose

By Josh Hill

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 21: Derrick Rose #25 of the Minnesota Timberwolves drives to the basket against the Houston Rockets in Game Three of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 21, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Timberwolves defeated 121-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 21: Derrick Rose #25 of the Minnesota Timberwolves drives to the basket against the Houston Rockets in Game Three of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 21, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Timberwolves defeated 121-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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Tom Thibodeau can’t quit Derrick Rose, evident by the fact that Minnesota is bringing him back on a one-year deal.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Derrick Rose, and he was subsequently cut by the Utah Jazz, everyone joked that Tom Thibodeau would pick up the pieces in Minnesota. When that actually became reality, what ensued was a surreal and frustrating trip — one that isn’t ending.

While teams like Oklahoma City and Dallas were adding big name free agents, the Minnesota Timberwolves re-signed Derrick Rose.

On the upside, it’s only a one-year deal. On the downside, based on the way Thibodeau can’t quit Rose, this won’t be the last one-year deal.

To be fair — or, as a Timberwolves fan, to rationalize this — Rose wasn’t totally terrible in the second half of last season. That’s not a glowing endorsement, but he wasn’t so bad that it didn’t warrant a conversation about bringing him back.

It’s still not a good reason.

Last season I joked with the only other Timberwolves fan in Chicago that it would be poetic justice for D-Rose stans if the Wolves made the playoffs on his back in that final game. It didn’t happen, but he showed flashes in that game of his vintage self (and by flashes, it was a couple of buckets). But that’s what is so dangerous about Rose, those flashes are infectious to those who refuse to believe he doesn’t have it anymore. Maybe Thibs feels like he owes Rose for running him into the ground in Chicago, or maybe he thinks he can contribute to a team that can get out of the first-round of the Western Conference playoffs.

This is the $2.1 million question Wolves fans are pondering: Why is this happening?

We’re going to find out, one way or another since we’re all going to be force-fed Year Two of Derrick Rose in Minnesota. Buy your League Pass now and start preparing yourself.

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