In 2013, the Mavericks hired Gersson Rosas from the Rockets as general manager.
Only three months later, he resigned.
He said it wasn’t the right fit, reportedly because he didn’t have enough power beneath Mavericks president Donnie Nelson and owner Mark Cuban. Rosas returned to Houston to again work under Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. Rosas has been a perennial job candidate around the league ever since.
He and another team have finally found what each deems the right match.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
The Minnesota Timberwolves are hiring Houston’s Gersson Rosas as the franchise’s next President of Basketball Operations, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 1, 2019
Considering his issues in Dallas, it’s surprising Rosas took this job. Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor seemed to prefer keeping general manager Scott Layden and coach Ryan Saunders, reportedly going as far as negotiating a new contract for Saunders before hiring a team president. That’s not exactly an encouraging development for potential presidents.
Hopefully for him, Rosas knows what he’s walking into this time. It’s hard to believe he’d repeat the mistake of taking a job that offers less-than-expected authority.
Maybe Rosas just happens to like Layden and Saunders as much as Taylor does. Maybe Taylor relented and granted Rosas authority to choose his own general manager and coach.
At the very minimum, talking Taylor out of keeping Layden and/or Saunders – especially Saunders – would require Rosas using some of his capital already. Juxtapose that with Magic president Jeff Weltman, who has yet to put a strong stamp on Orlando’s roster and has therefore delayed judgment on his job.
Beyond potentially tricky internal politics, Rosas inherits a middling roster. The Timberwolves have a young star in Karl-Anthony Towns and little cap flexibility. Wiggins (four years, $122,242,800 remaining), Gorgui Dieng (two years, $33,516,853 remaining) and arguably Jeff Teague (one year, $19 million remaining) have burdensome contracts. Barring major lottery luck, Minnesota is already too good to secure a very high draft pick.
If Towns improves his ability to affect games, especially defensively… if Robert Covington stays healthy… if Teague plays well in a contract year… if Dario Saric and Josh Okogie continue on their developmental tracks… if the Timberwolves have the right coach… they could compete for a playoff spot next year. It’s not much of a leap at all.
But assuming the goal is greater than competing for a low playoff seed, Rosas has his work cut out for him – even with a massive head start in Towns.