On April 11, 2018, the Timberwolves clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2004 with a win over the Denver Nuggets, ending what was the longest post-season drought in the NBA at the time, at 13 seasons to pass the Sacramento Kings to currently make the longest postseason NBA drought.
The last time the Wolves made the playoffs was during the Kevin Garnett era where he led them to the conference finals that year.
The Wolves also signed free agent Derrick Rose, after he considered joining teams such as the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Washington Wizards.
The signing reunited Rose with former Chicago Bulls teammates Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, as well as coach Tom Thibodeau, all of whom were part of the franchise from 2011 to 2015.
Exiting draft night, however, they traded away their #7 pick, which was the Finnish center/power forward Lauri Markkanen from University of Arizona, alongside last year's top selection (Kris Dunn) and Zach LaVine to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for All-Star shooting guard/small forward Jimmy Butler and the Bulls' own first round selection, which was #16 pick Justin Patton, a redshirt freshman center from Creighton University for the purpose of ending their 13 year long playoff drought.