When the Minnesota Timberwolves signed point guard Derrick Rose in March for the rest of the 2017-18 season, the signing came with a horde of criticism from the Minnesota fans and media members, as the prevailing thought was Rose had nothing left in the tank and would be a cancer to the team.

Rose had a chaotic campaign last season. He began the season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but wasn’t a good fit next to LeBron James. Rose’s ankle ailment he suffered in the second game of the year against the Milwaukee Bucks forced him to miss a bevy of games, and the Cavs ultimately decided to move on from him after he took a leave of absence.

Cleveland traded Rose to the Utah Jazz at the 2018 February trade deadline. He was then released by Utah, allowing him to sign with the Timberwolves. The youngest MVP in NBA history was minimally used in the nine regular season games he played with Minnesota. Rose posted just 5.8 points in about 12 minutes per game.

However, Rose’s role changed during the 2018 playoffs, as head coach/president Tom Thibodeau trusted him in big moments over Tyus Jones. The explosive guard averaged 14.2 points per game in the postseason while shooting an efficient 50.9 percent from the field and 70 percent from 3 in his five postseason games. Rose showed off that quick first step, got to the rim at will, and finished in heavy traffic in the first round series against the Houston Rockets. Impressive stuff from a guy who has endured four knee surgeries.

The Timberwolves’ offense benefited from Rose’s presence on the floor. The team had an offensive rating of 119.1 when Rose was playing during the postseason, compared to 97.0 when he was on the bench. Minnesota All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns was happy to see Rose shine in the playoffs, and says the Chicago native is an amazing teammate.

“He’s an amazing player,” Towns told Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio. “An amazing teammate. You can’t say nothing but good things about Derrick Rose. He’s probably one of the most humblest people that I’ve ever met, and it just speaks to his character. He works tremendously hard.”

As you probably know, Towns and Jimmy Butler didn’t have a good relationship last season and that’s the main reason why Butler has requested a trade. So these comments by Towns on Rose are noteworthy, especially the statement of Rose being a good teammate.