Minnesota Timberwolves: Best-case, worst-case for Derrick Rose

Let’s talk about what Minnesota Timberwolves guard Derrick Rose might be able to provide his new team over the course of a full regular season.

The long-rumored acquisition of Derrick Rose by the Minnesota Timberwolves finally went down in early March, as the season drew to a close.

What’s easy to forget about the Rose signing is just how close he was to retirement. Remember, he went through another season of health problems in Cleveland, and when he did play, he was largely ineffective.

At one point, he reportedly even seriously considered retirement.

There were low expectations, even if Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau still believed that the MVP he coached in Chicago was in there somewhere.

After his nine-game regular season audition — during which he missed six games due to injury and had the second-highest usage rate on the team with low scoring production — no one would have bet on the strong showing that he provided for the Wolves in the playoffs.

Over the course of the five games against Houston, Rose scored 1.56 points per possession in transition (98th percentile during postseason play) providing outstanding offense in open-court opportunitites and leading the (ultimately futile) comeback efforts in Games 1 and 5.

This brief showcase led some to believe Rose might be able to command more than a veteran’s minimum contract during the offseason, but five games is a small sample size, playoffs or not. Thankfully, it wasn’t enough to force the Wolves to dip into their mid-level exception to keep him around.

Based on what he displayed in the post-season, the reported veteran’s minimum of $2.39 million is a good deal for everyone involved. Now that Rose feels rejuvenated and is looking forward to playing a full season with his former coach and some old teammates, which Rose will we see on the court?