The Timberwolves are parting ways with president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, sources tell Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team has confirmed the news, issuing the following statement:
“Today, the Minnesota Timberwolves parted ways with President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas. As an organization, we remain committed to building a winning team that our fans and city can be proud of.”
Rosas had only run the Timberwolves’ basketball operations department for two years, having been hired by the franchise in May of 2019 after a lengthy stint in the Rockets’ front office. He overhauled the roster after taking the reins — Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie are the only two holdover players from the previous regime.
While he has certainly been active, Rosas hasn’t necessarily taken the Timberwolves any closer to legitimate contention in the last two years. His major moves – including trading up for Jarrett Culver in the 2019 draft and sending Andrew Wiggins and a first-round pick to Golden State for D’Angelo Russell – have been a mixed bag, at best. The club had a record of just 42-94 (.309) during Rosas’ tenure and isn’t viewed by professional oddsmakers as a probable playoff team for 2021/22.
Despite some questionable personnel decisions, the timing of Rosas’ dismissal is still surprising. Typically, a team replacing its head of basketball operations will do so at the end of the season, before the draft and free agency take place. The Wolves are making a change less than a week before training camp begins, after Rosas completed many of the team’s offseason roster moves – including trading for Patrick Beverley and re-signing Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan McLaughlin – in the last few weeks.
A tweet from star big man Karl-Anthony Towns likely summed up what many Wolves fans are feeling. Towns’ message simply reads, “Wtf…”
Of course, it’s worth noting that the Wolves are in the midst of an ownership change, with Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore buying the franchise from longtime owner Glen Taylor. New ownership groups often prefer to make their own front office hires rather than sticking with the incumbent executives.
However, Rodriguez and Lore don’t have majority control of the organization yet, having agreed to a succession plan that won’t see them fully take over until 2023. They’ll have a voice in major decisions over the next two years, but the statement announcing Rosas’ dismissal today was attributed to Taylor.
We should get more details soon on why the Wolves would make such a major change now and what their plan is to replace Rosas. For the time being, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report suggests (via Twitter) that Sixers GM Elton Brand is a name worth watching, since Rodriguez and Lore are believed to be high on Brand.
Speaking of Philadelphia, we’ll also be keeping a close eye on how this move affects Minnesota’s rumored pursuit in Ben Simmons. The Wolves have been viewed for much of the offseason as one of the teams most interested in Simmons — it’s unclear how Rosas’ departure may impact the club’s level of interest in the 76ers star.
Bruh
Only two bad trades
1. Trade Saric and Cam Johnson for Culver (Bust)
Grade F
2. Trade Wiggins and Kuminga for DLo
Grade C
The rest trades and picks are all good.
Kinda out of the blue
Wait what. Did not see this coming.
I mean sure he was mid at the job
But I don’t understand the timing
He wasn’t willing to give up KAT for that guy who’s afraid to dunk the ball
Wonder if this ends up eliminating Minnesota as a suitor for Simmons. Seems Rosas push for that scenario more than anything.
Nah, I think this means the owners want to mortgage the future for Ben Simmons and he did not, so he left.
Ben will be on the Wolves by end of week.
Hate to like this, but I think it’s true as well; ‘Wolves will mortgage their future once again, trading away solid players and their ‘future’ in first round picks for Simmons. It will leave them no depth, and no help coming, so another 5 year flounder….
Yep. A-Rod and his partners want to make a splash, making the time honored mistake of trying to build a Lakers/Nets-style star-driven team in an NBA backwater. Not gonna work.
I’d agree with the gist of this
Bc otherwise, yes, the timing is extremely random. FO guys don’t get let go a week before training camp
Not a fan of Rosas. But, after sitting back watching him re-do the entire roster in 2 years, I’m not sure what ownership was expecting in an offseason without draft picks, cap space or trade assets. It is a WTF move. Then again, no more so than many of Rosas’ moves.
Wolves gonna Wolves. To do this now makes no sense at all. And, frankly, he hasn’t don’t a terrible job. Some good, some not so good. And dealt a horrible starting hand.
EDIT- Rumors speak of a personal issue. It’s the one thing that would make sense.
But the way they went about it for a personal failing is ass backwards. No player should be finding out in real time with the rest of the world. You put someone like that on administrative leave and at least pretend to investigate it first than fire them. If new ownership had any part in the timing of this decision the wolves don’t have much to look forward to post-Glen.
Elton will get his power back.
“Mortimer… we’re back!”
Coming from a die hard Minnesotan. ‘Wolves gonna ‘Wolves.
New owners want their own team, I think. Would be amazed if this is Simmons related, but if so, he would be right to leave if he doesn’t have full authority to make basketball decisions.
You wouldn’t think it is, but with Taylor still in charge you never know. That said, you’d think Lowe and A-Roid would have had some input on this type of decision as well, even if they are still owners in waiting.
Big change but honestly I think for the better.
New owners, new GM and a new coach.
Although it’s not likely to be the most popular idea I think getting Elton Brand and trading for Ben Simmons could be great.
Even tho he sucked during the playoffs and hasn’t improved much since entering the league he is still a talent worth investing in. Your buying him while his value is at an all time low, he clearly wants out and he’s actively forcing his way out. End of the day hes all NBA third team, 2 time all defensive first team, just missed DPOY and a 3 time all star. Will likely give you 16-10-8 each night, locking up the other teams best player and someone who will hopefully attract others to come to the team and play with him. It’s a huge if but if he develops a shot at all then gets going to be a top 10/15 player.
They should give up DAngelo Russell, either Prince or Beasley and either Okogie or McDaniels plus 1 first round pick and a second round pick.
Also try get Milton/Springer/Joe/Reed in as apart of the deal aswell.
Pat Bev, Ant, Ben, KAT with either Prince or Beasley, that’s a playoff hopeful team.
Considering the team may also move to Seattle I think it would make them a lot more interesting and exciting.
They are not moving to Seattle lol
Maybe not now but in the future I wouldn’t be surprised. ARod has said suggested he would like to and it’s not like they been successful at all in Minny. They even tried to relocate way back in the day to New Orleans. Founded in 1989 and have 1 division title.
I doubt they last 10 years in Minny
The league wouldn’t approve it unless they paid the multi-billion fee they would be getting if they just put an expansion team there. MN is a decent sized market, there’s no reason for them not to have a team. A-rod and Lore aren’t paying over $2 bil to relocate…
I disagree
New President – JLo.
Man you behind the times, now is Bennifer… just keep up dude!!!
Glen Taylor just can’t stop effing himself!! Like KAT said…WTF…
I know nothing about Glen Taylor’s other businesses that have built his wealth. Based on his awful running of the Timberpuppies, Glen must have businesses that run them selves or he has some very knowledgeable and talented underlings who do the grunt work and make the operational decisions while Glen deposits the profits in his bank account.
Printing business is one of them, cobbled together by buying a lot of smaller concerns and creating economies of scale. Not rocket science imho, and certainly not a team-building business.
Whoever Taylor hires, will still be subject to replacement when Lore/Arod takes over. He will get two years, like Rosas got. I anticipate Taylor will take full advantage of his time left.
Rosas did not get a chance to see his plan come to pass. However he did NOT give it a name or indicate it’s predecessors, so it wasn’t like he gave it a good trial. (I claim he followed a Nugget/Rocket model.)
Rosas did no worse than the Wolves tradition, and he drafted well, yet the press release was cold. Something personal happened. The local paper said Rosas made the FO “morose”.
The wording did not thank Rosas for his time spent, and suggested that Rosas did not make Minnesotans proud, which is mysterious. According to a local paper, Rosas did not find accord with a long-time scout, or with David Vanterpool, a black AC, both prominent… but that is not enough for a firing. Some story is untold.
Real shame!
Rosas had done a decent job so far, if you ask me this is the first step for KAT leaving, I mean the owner can’t do that without consulting the face of the franchise, just not right… I really hope KAT asks for a trade out of there!