Tag: Gersson Rosas

Owner Glen Taylor, along with new …

Owner Glen Taylor, along with new limited partners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, told Gupta when he took over for the fired Gersson Rosas before training camp that they would evaluate him over the course of the season before making a decision on what they would do at the top of the basketball operations department. In the meantime, Gupta has been empowered to run the front office how he sees fit, league sources told The Athletic, and he has started to reshape the staff as the Wolves prepare to convene with the rest of the league in Chicago next week for the NBA Draft Combine.

During pregame warmups, Rosas walked in …

During pregame warmups, Rosas walked in and sat courtside, watching many of the players he drafted, traded for and signed. A number of players, including Beverley and Josh Okogie, and staff, including offensive coordinator Pablo Prigioni and player development coach Chris Hines, greeted Rosas warmly, sharing hugs and smiles. Others within the team were quietly dumbfounded at the boldness. The Timberwolves weren’t the only ones surprised to see Rosas. Several members of the Mavericks organization remarked about the irony of his decision to return to Target Center when the Wolves were facing the team that hired Rosas as GM in 2013 but parted ways with him after only three months because both sides quickly determined it was a bad fit.

Knicks expected to hire Gersson Rosas

The New York Knicks are expected to hire former Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas as a consultant, league sources say. Rosas, 43, was abruptly fired by the Timberwolves just days before the start of the season amid organizational concerns about a fraying relationship with fellow front-office executive Sachin Gupta and the discovery of a consensual romantic relationship between Rosas and another team employee. Gupta was subsequently installed as the new head of Minnesota’s front office.

Ousted Wolves exec Gersson Rosas reportedly blocked Sachin Gupta’s move to Houston

According to The Athletic, Minnesota’s Sachin Gupta was poised to make a lateral move to the Rockets, but it was blocked by Gersson Rosas.

At least in part, the circumstances causing former Minnesota president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas to shockingly lose his job just before training camp may have traced back to an overture from the Rockets for one of Rosas’ top lieutenants with the Timberwolves.

According to Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic, executive vice president of basketball operations Sachin Gupta was poised to make a lateral move (in status) to Houston due to a pay increase. However, Rosas blocked Gupta from making the move.

Rosas, Gupta, and current Rockets general manager Rafael Stone all worked together for years in Houston under former general manager Daryl Morey, who now runs basketball operations in Philadelphia. Thus, Rosas and Stone each have a relationship with Gupta, and it appears that Gupta was ready to go back to Houston for financial reasons.

However, Rosas contends that the timing of the desired move was unacceptable because it came just prior to the July 29 NBA draft, and the Timberwolves could have been damaged by allowing someone with proprietary information go to a direct competitor. As it pertains to the Rockets, here are some key details from The Athletic’s story:

Some issues were exacerbated this summer when Rosas and Gupta butted heads over Rosas’ decision to block Gupta from making a lateral move to the Rockets with increased pay, sources said. Rosas said the timing of the request, coming right before the draft and free agency, made it impossible for the Timberwolves to let someone with as much proprietary knowledge of the team’s plans go to a competitor.

The tension between them only grew later in August when Rosas banished Gupta from the team’s offices and granted him permission to seek employment elsewhere, according to sources. The issue was resolved in early September after ownership got involved and Gupta decided to stay.

[Rosas] said most teams would have denied Gupta permission in that scenario because it was not a promotion and said he fought hard earlier in his tenure for Gupta to get the Sacramento GM job. He also granted Gupta permission to seek other opportunities after free agency concluded.

Rosas was relieved of his duties Wednesday over what some within the organization referred to as a “dysfunctional” environment, according to The Athletic, and Gupta is now the interim replacement at the head of Minnesota’s basketball operations department. Outgoing owner Glen Taylor became involved in the evaluation during recent weeks after complaints by a vocal contingent of staffers, The Athletic reports.

Ultimately, it appears that Gupta — now the first person of Indian origin to head an NBA team’s basketball operations — will also receive serious consideration for the permanent position. Thus, for the time being, he has higher ambitions than reconsidering a move to the Rockets to work for Stone. However, depending on the outcome of Minnesota’s search, it’s a conversation that could be revisited at a later date.

[lawrence-related id=4841,39403]

[listicle id=53390]

 

Report: Minnesota ‘expected to re-engage’ Rockets in trade talks for PJ Tucker

“The Wolves have maintained contact with the Rockets on Tucker and were expected to re-engage now that Harden is gone,” Krawczynski writes.

The Timberwolves could become a trade suitor for veteran Rockets forward PJ Tucker, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Gersson Rosas, now the president of basketball operations in Minnesota, was the No. 2 executive in Houston when Tucker was signed in July 2017.

“The Wolves have maintained contact with the Rockets on Tucker and were expected to re-engage now that Harden is gone,” Krawczynski writes. Kelly Iko, also of The Athletic, reports that multiple teams have inquired about Tucker’s availability and have expressed interest.

Minnesota’s first-round draft pick in 2021 will go to Golden State unless it is in the top three, so Krawczynski suggests that the Timberwolves might try to package “one or two of their role players.” With Tucker making nearly $8 million this season, Houston could theoretically take back a Minnesota salary or salaries in a range from approximately $5 million to $11 million. That range could grow, of course, if other Houston contracts in addition to Tucker are included in the hypothetical trade.

Now 35 years old, Tucker is currently in the final year of his contract, and he and the Rockets have yet to come to terms on an extension.

Even without an extension, it made sense to potentially keep Tucker when the Rockets were pushing forward with James Harden — a perennial All-Star guard and MVP finalist. But with Houston’s status as a title contender in doubt after the Harden trade, the upside of keeping Tucker for the 2020-21 season (without an extension) may not be enough to justify the risk of him leaving for no compensation in 2021 free agency.

Known for his versatile defense, toughness, and corner 3-point shooting, Tucker has averaged 6.8 points (37.4% on 3-pointers) and 5.9 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game over his four seasons in Houston. A valued leader and key voice in the locker room, Tucker hasn’t missed a single game in either the regular season or playoffs for the Rockets.

Dating back to the 2012-13 season, Tucker has played in the most games of any NBA player. As such, even at 35, his market should be robust for both title contenders as well as younger teams like Minnesota who are seeking a steadying influence and locker-room presence.

[lawrence-related id=43396,42086]

Even without a draft pick, Houston interviews ‘stretch big’ prospects

Could Houston potentially trade into the first or second round? The Rockets now have at least two draftable bigs on their interview list.

The Houston Rockets have already traded away their picks in both the first round and second round of the 2020 NBA Draft. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t eventually trade their way back in.

Per veteran Minneapolis journalist Darren Wolfson, the Rockets are currently on the interview list for former University of Minnesota center Daniel Oturu — who is projected at roughly No. 30 overall, according to the latest aggregate NBA mock draft from HoopsHype.

That’s interesting for multiple reasons. First, with Oturu potentially a first-round selection, it would seem rather unlikely that he’d slide out of the draft altogether and be available as an undrafted free agent. So if the Rockets are interviewing him, it would appear to suggest that GM Daryl Morey is considering scenarios of acquiring a 2020 draft pick.

Second, it’s noteworthy that the 6-foot-10, 240-pound Oturu is a center. Oturu averaged 20.1 points (56.3% FG), 11.3 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game last season, and it would seem to signal that the notoriously undersized Rockets might be open to larger lineups in the future.

Oturu does have some range and potential as a “stretch big,” having shot 36.5% on 3-pointers last season. However, it remains to be seen how that might translate from the shorter college line to the NBA.

Here’s how Rookie Wire describes Oturu in their latest Big Board:

Daniel Oturu was ridiculously productive during his sophomore campaign for Minnesota. It is “extremely tough” to predict Oturu’s draft range because executives are “all over the map” about him, per The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. Scouts may not love what they see from Oturu’s mechanics but it is certainly impossible to deny how much he was able to accomplish on the court.

Per Wolfson, the Rockets have also interviewed many other draftable prospects, such as 6-foot-11 Arizona forward Zeke Nnaji. Like Oturu, Nnaji could also fill the “stretch big” role. Per Rookie Wire:

One of the players who improved his draft stock the most during his freshman season was Arizona big man Zeke Nnaji. The Pac-12 Rookie of the Year averaged 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and could provide positional depth for the Philadelphia 76ers in the frontcourt. His shooting is projected to be better in the NBA than it was in the NCAA.

Nnaji was at No. 34 on the most recent aggregate mock draft, in the same range as Oturu. As Wolfson noted, the Wolves have the No. 17 and No. 33 overall picks. They could be a logical trade partner for the Rockets, given the long history and working relationship between Morey and Minnesota’s president of basketball operations, Gersson Rosas.

Rosas was Houston’s No. 2 executive (after Morey) for years. Since taking Minnesota’s lead job last year, Morey and Rosas worked together on the blockbuster four-team trade in February involving Robert Covington.

The 2020 NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The Rockets do have most of their cash allotment for the 2019-20 league year still available, which could help facilitate a deal. That might especially be the case in 2020 given the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hurt many owners financially and reportedly could lead to more picks being up for sale.

[lawrence-related id=27887,27649]

First, there is a feeling around the …

First, there is a feeling around the league that Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will explore every conceivable option with this pick, including a multitude of trade options. Not only has Rosas already proven himself to be one of the more aggressive heads of basketball ops in the NBA, but also the executive team in charge is also one of the more creative ones in executing deals. Remember: the team’s vice president of basketball ops, Sachin Gupta, created the damn trade machine on ESPN. I would not be so sure that the Wolves end up making this pick at No. 1. At the very least, they’re going to see if anyone is willing to meet whatever they set as their asking price.