Timberwolves Screwed Up Again By Letting Derrick Rose Leave

Derrick Rose's new book, "I'll Show You"

Triumph Books LLC

Photo of book by Jim Watkins

I have been waiting since June for Derrick Rose's book, "I'll Show You" (2019 Triumph Books LLC) to be released. When I got up today, I remembered that the book was released today. I paid just over $30 (with tax) for the first book I have bought in over 20 years but, I got it and immediately soaked up every word written in Chapter 14. That is the chapter that Rose mostly talked about his time in Minnesota. My reaction to what he had to say about the team and where he was in his life as a person and his team.... 'WOW!' 'The Wolves sure screwed up by not re-signing him!'
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I grew up in Minnesota and moved to Texas over 23 years ago. The reasons were simple, I didn't like the cold weather (I worked outdoors a lot back then) and I didn't care for the higher cost of living compared to Texas. While I haven't lived in Minnesota in a long time, one thing I didn't do was become a fan of any of the local Dallas teams.
I have maintained my loyalty with the teams I grew up following. When the North Stars moved to Dallas, the "Stars" became just one of the teams in the NHL. I root for the Wild over the Stars. I am a die hard Minnesota sports fan.

It is about loyalty. True Minnesota fans understand loyalty. It is one of the reasons the people of Minnesota continue to love Kevin Garnett. He never wanted to leave but, even after winning the NBA title in 2007, he said just minutes after the game ended, "This is for you, Sota!"

Derrick Rose is from Chicago and still has deep ties there but, with all he went thru with his trades and many injuries, he is still loyal to the city but, not the Chicago Bulls. What Rose said in the first paragraph was enough to convince me the Wolves should have tried to keep him, regardless of who the coach was. From his book, "I'll Show You," Rose said,

"I didn't know what would be next after I got released by Utah, but I didn't think my career was over. I was surprised to end up back with Thibs, Taj, Jimmy, with all of them, in Minnesota. But I can say it gave me time to really appreciate everything I went through prior to getting there, because when I got there, I don't know, but it just felt like I was finally home."

As a fan, I wasn't sure it was the best move to re-sign Rose last year, but getting him for the veterans minimum salary, it was a no-brainer. In my last article, I talked about the difficulty the Wolves have had with bringing in big name free agents. The times when the team had a player WANTING to play for the Wolves... It was a big deal. One player that comes to mind was when Stephon Marbury made it clear that he wanted to get drafted by the Wolves and play with KG. Regardless of how things went bad after the team traded the rights to Ray Allen to get him, the fact remained... A college stud and future NBA star wanted to play in Minnesota. A more recent example is Jeff Teague. He said that when he saw Jimmy Butler get traded to the Wolves, he called his agent and told him to get him on that team.
Derrick Rose WANTED to be here and by his own words, he felt like he was finally home.

Some critics might counter my opinion by saying, "That was before Thibs got fired." That is a fair point to make but, after reading what Rose said about his understanding his role with the team as a veteran presence and his approach to the young players the Wolves currently have... Derrick Rose is EXACTLY the type of player that would help the Wolves develop on and off the court. From what I have read and heard, including what Rose said in his book over the last year, the players respected him and he respected the younger players while understanding how to approach them. That is huge and lets not forget the fact that Rose put up over 18 points a game last season and came very close to making the All-Star team.
After Thibs was fired, Rose played well under Ryan Saunders before his elbow problem ended his season. Rose made no comment about Saunders in the parts of his book that I have read so far and reading what he said about his time in Minnesota being positive, I think Rose would have been happy to play for Saunders.

If I have a gripe with new POBO Gersson Rosas thus far with the team, it is his decision to not re-sign Rose. That is my opinion because, I don't know for a fact that he didn't try to get him to stay. My guess that is based on Rosas having very little room with the salary cap, Glen Taylor wouldn't agree to pay Rose more than the league minimum or give him more than a one year deal.
As it turned out, Rose left the Wolves when he agreed to a two-year, $15 Million dollar guaranteed contract with the Detroit Pistons.

$7.5 million a year seems like it is on the high end for a 30-year old player with a long history of injuries. I think Rose played pretty well last year, he didn't do anything that brought negative attention to the team and he was a calming, positive influence on a team that was a complete wreck while the Jimmy Butler saga played out.  I would have been fine giving Rose a 2-year deal for $7.5 mil per season. The Wolves gave Cole Aldrich a 3-year, $22 million deal in 2016 and were still paying him last season while he was not even in the NBA.

No matter how I look at the moves that the Wolves have made over the past year, it is still obvious to me that Timberwolves owner, Glen Taylor continues to meddle with the day to day operations of the team. I firmly believe that the Wolves didn't re-sign Derrick Rose because, Taylor wouldn't let Rosas spend the extra money in order to keep him. On that note, let me be the first blogger/author to make the prediction that Derrick Rose will prove to be a big reason the Pistons have a great season. It won't take 2 years for the world to see that the Timberwolves made a big mistake by letting Derrick Rose leave. As for Rose himself... I wish him all the best in both his basketball and personal life.