Wolves Notes: Rosas, Front Office, Draft Workouts
Promising to question the norm with everything, new Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas was introduced at a news conference on Monday while flanked by owner Glen Taylor and CEO Ethan Casson, writes Michael Rand of the Star Tribune.
Rosas was noncommittal about the status of interim head coach Ryan Saunders and general manager Scott Layden, but did say that he was looking forward to sitting down and visiting with them and talking about the organization.
As for the roster itself, Rosas stressed player development and being creative in maximizing talent. As an example, Rosas spoke about Andrew Wiggins, saying that the team is going to work him day in and day out, and that he still has a tremendous upside.
There’s more from Minneapolis this evening:
- According to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, the Timberwolves hosted draft workouts for forward Jordan Murphy (Minnesota) and guard Jordan Geist (Missouri) on Tuesday.
- Per Britt Robson of The Athletic, it is widely expected that Saunders will progress from interim to official head coach, and that Layden will be retained in some fashion.
- In addition to his basketball credentials, Rosas emerged as the favorite for the top job in Minnesota for his ability to have a personal connection with Taylor, something the owner covets in his front office employees, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Northwest Notes: Donovan, Rosas, Murray
Despite the fact that he’s already spent five seasons at the helm of the Thunder and that his All-Star dynamic duo was just dispatched in five games by the Trail Blazers, head coach Billy Donovan is expected to return to his post in 2019/20.
That patience in an era of scapegoating and quick fixes, Brett Dawson of The Athletic writes, could be attributed to general manager Sam Presti‘s tendency to take a long view on things.
Dawson writes about Donovan’s impact in Oklahoma City over the past few seasons, suggesting that he’s earned the faith of the organization and this is one organization in particular that isn’t afraid to see things through.
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Timberwolves CEO Ethan Casson has nothing but high praise for recent franchise hire Gersson Rosas, Chris Hine of the Minnesota Star Tribune writes. Rosas impressed the organization with a detailed vision not only for a generic basketball franchise but for the Timberwolves in particular. Beyond the team’s current roster, Rosas had a deep understanding of the team’s history and marketplace.
- Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic logged a record-breaking 65 minutes played in Denver’s four-overtime loss to the Trail Blazers Friday night. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told the media afterward that he apologized for giving his center such a heavy work load. Jokic averaged 31.3 minutes per game for Denver this season.
- Despite struggles from the field in his first playoff experience, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is figuring out the difference between regular and playoff basketball, Sean Keeler of The Denver Post writes.
Timberwolves Notes: Rosas, Saunders, Layden
With the Timberwolves set to hire Gersson Rosas as their new president of basketball operations, the next issue to address will be determining who will coach the team next season.
Patrick Reusse of The Star Tribune contends that Ryan Saunders didn’t show enough during his stretch as the Wolves’ interim head coach to lock him into the job going forward, arguing that Saunders should instead be offered the head coaching position for Minnesota’s G League affiliate in Des Moines. That would give him the opportunity to show his potential to lead an NBA team, while allowing Rosas to hand-pick his own coach to lead the Timberwolves.
However, that doesn’t appear to be a likely scenario at this point. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes that Rosas has a “long-standing connection” with Saunders, and while nothing has been finalized in regard to his future, Saunders is widely expected to be named the Wolves’ permanent head coach. Virtually all of Minnesota’s players – including star Karl-Anthony Towns – would be on board with that move, per Krawczynski.
As we wait to see what happens with Saunders, here are a few more notes out of Minnesota:
- The Wolves’ initial plan after interviewing four candidates for their president of basketball operations vacancy had been to trim the field to two finalists before making a decision, according to Krawczynski. However, Rosas stood out to such a degree that the team ultimately decided to simply go with him.
- Minnesota liked Rosas’ polished presentation and the success he had in Houston, and believes he’s someone who is capable of uniting all levels of the organization, sources tell Krawczynski. Rosas also received some strong recommendations during the vetting process, including a glowing review from former Timberwolves GM Kevin McHale, who worked with the veteran exec in Houston.
- Rosas briefly left the Rockets in 2013 to become the Mavericks’ GM, but returned to Houston after just three months when both sides decided the fit wasn’t right. According to Krawczynski, Rosas didn’t have the level of control he expected in Dallas, with Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban still calling the shots. That shouldn’t be an issue in Minnesota, where he’ll be unquestionably be running the show.
- It’s not clear yet whether GM Scott Layden will be retained, per Krawczynski. Layden still has two years and $4MM left on his contract and has a reputation for being team-oriented, so Krawczynski believes he may stick with the Wolves in some capacity.
Wolves To Hire Gersson Rosas As President Of Basketball Operations
The Timberwolves are moving forward with plans to hire Rockets executive Gersson Rosas as their new president of basketball operations, league sources tell Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms as much, tweeting that Rosas will assume control of Minnesota’s front office.
Rosas has spent the better part of two decades with the Rockets, most recently serving as the team’s executive vice president of basketball ops. A close associate of general manager Daryl Morey, Rosas had a brief stint as the Mavericks’ general manager in 2013 but returned to Houston shortly thereafter when things didn’t pan out in Dallas.
Rosas has been a popular target in recent years for teams with openings in their front office. He was reportedly considered for top jobs in Charlotte, Detroit, and Philadelphia in 2018. This spring, he interviewed with the Pelicans and Wizards in addition to the Wolves. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Rosas met with Minnesota for a second time today in an interview that included owner Glen Taylor.
Heading into 2018/19, head coach Tom Thibodeau held the president of basketball operations title for the Wolves, but general manager Scott Layden assumed control of the front office when Thibodeau was fired during the season.
Now that he’s being hired to lead Minnesota’s front office, Rosas will have a hand in determining Layden’s future, as well as that of head coach Ryan Saunders. The Wolves reportedly prefer to bring back both men.
Once he sorts out the Wolves’ front office and coaching staff, Rosas will turn his attention to what figures to be a challenging offseason. Minnesota doesn’t project to have cap room this summer after missing the playoffs in 2018/19, and big contracts for Andrew Wiggins ($27.5MM), Jeff Teague ($19MM), and Gorgui Dieng ($16.2MM) remain on the club’s books.
The Timberwolves also interviewed ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups, Nuggets assistant GM Calvin Booth, and Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon for their president of basketball operations vacancy.
Latest On Wizards’ Front Office Search
After the Wizards fired Ernie Grunfeld with eight days left in the regular season, updates on their search for a new head of basketball operations were few and far between for the next several weeks. However, that changed this week.
According to various reports, three candidates to replace Grunfeld were in Washington to interview with the Wizards on Tuesday. According to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (via Twitter), those candidates apparently met with the team one after another. They are as follows:
- Danny Ferry: Formerly the GM of the Cavaliers and the Hawks, Ferry saw his time in Atlanta come to an end after he read an offensive comment from a scouting report on Luol Deng out loud during a conference call. Ferry is a Maryland native, and his father Bob Ferry was the Washington Bullets’ GM for much of the 1970s and ’80s. Most recently, Danny served as the Pelicans’ interim GM following Dell Demps‘ ouster.
- Gersson Rosas: A longtime Rockets executive, Rosas currently serves as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations. He has drawn interest from multiple teams with front office openings this spring, including the Pelicans and Timberwolves — he remains in the running for the Minnesota job.
- Troy Weaver: The VP of basketball operations for the Thunder, Weaver was linked to the Pistons’ head of basketball operations position in 2018, and to Kings and Hawks jobs in 2017. Interestingly, Weaver was mentioned as a potential candidate to replace Grunfeld way back in 2016.
Current Wizards interim general manager Tommy Sheppard is also a contender to claim the permanent job, and according to both Buckner and Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington, Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly is still very much on the Wizards’ radar.
Named a top candidate to run the Wizards’ front office in the wake of Grunfeld’s departure, Connelly was raised in Baltimore, Maryland and previously worked for the club. Sources tell Standig that personal considerations make the idea of returning to D.C. attractive for Connelly, with one source describing the position as Connelly’s “dream job.” However, given Denver’s ongoing success, it’s not clear if he’d want to leave the Nuggets at this time.
[RELATED: 2019 NBA Front Office Shakeup Tracker]
Finally, Standig provides one more interesting tidbit, citing sources who say that Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is “intrigued by the idea of moving to Washington.” Ujiri’s wife is from the D.C. area and the city would provide him with a larger platform for his “Basketball Without Borders” program, Standig notes.
Still, a league source tells NBC Sports Washington that Toronto is unlikely to grant rival teams permission to interview Ujiri.
Wizards Interviewing Ferry, Rosas For Front Office Job
Former Pelicans interim GM Danny Ferry and current Rockets executive vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will be the first candidate to meet with the Wizards about the team’s top front office job. According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, Rosas is currently in Washington to interview with the club, while Candace Buckner of The Washington Post tweets that Ferry met with the Wizards today.
Rosas has been a popular target in recent years for teams with openings at the top of their basketball operations departments, having already been linked to the Pelicans’ and Timberwolves’ jobs this spring. New Orleans went with David Griffin, but a source tells Katz that Rosas is still very much in the mix for Minnesota’s president of basketball operations position.
A longtime member of one of the NBA’s most analytically driven front offices, Rosas could be a good fit for the Wizards. As Katz points out, owner Ted Leonsis has indicated that he’d prefer Ernie Grunfeld‘s replacement to place an emphasis on data and analytics.
As for Ferry, he has previous experience running a front office in Cleveland and Atlanta, and re-assumed that role in New Orleans after Dell Demps‘ ouster during the 2018/19 season.
According to Katz, Mike Forde, an outside consultant, is helping the Wizards with their search after previously assisting the Pelicans. Rosas and Perry were both part of the Pelicans’ process, and other executives that showed up on New Orleans’ list – such as Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon and Warriors assistant GM Larry Harris – could also be of interest to the Wizards.
Timberwolves Nearing End Of Front Office Search?
The Timberwolves‘ interview with Chauncey Billups for their president of basketball operations position will take place on Monday, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
According to Wojnarowski, the meeting with Billups will be Minnesota’s final interview. So far, the club has met with Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon, Nuggets assistant GM Calvin Booth, and Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas about the job. The Wolves also wanted to interview Clippers GM Michael Winger, but he opted to remain in his position with Los Angeles.
While there was speculation that the Timberwolves could further expand their list of candidates to replace Tom Thibodeau atop the front office, Wojnarowski’s reference to Billups being the “final” interview suggests that the club will ultimately offer the job to one of the four current candidates.
There’s been little indication of which direction the Wolves may be leaning, but Billups’ and Booth’s names came up most frequently throughout the season in the wake of Thibodeau’s dismissal. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders recently suggested (via Twitter) that Booth may be the frontrunner.
Besides preparing for the Timberwolves’ upcoming offseason roster decisions, the club’s new president of basketball operations will have to make decisions on GM Scott Layden and head coach Ryan Saunders. As Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic explained last week, both Layden and Saunders appear to be in good position to return, but the new head of basketball operations will have the opportunity to consult with owner Glen Taylor on their respective futures.
Wolves Expected To Meet With Clippers’ Winger, Rockets’ Rosas
2:59pm: The Timberwolves have also requested and been granted permission to speak to Rockets VP Gersson Rosas, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Rosas has also been linked to the Pelicans and Wizards this spring.
2:30pm: The Timberwolves have received permission to speak to Clippers general manager Michael Winger about a potential president of basketball operations role in Minnesota, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
It’s not clear when the meeting will take place, but Wolves owner Glen Taylor has targeted a short list of potential candidates to become the club’s head of basketball operations, and Winger appears to be emerging as one of the favorites in that group, as Wojnarowski tweets.
Taylor and the Wolves announced last Wednesday at the end of the regular season that they were formally launching a search for a new president of basketball operations. While general manager Scott Layden has been running the club’s front office for most of the season and may ultimately be retained, Minnesota wants to bring in someone who can oversee the team’s basketball operations, filling Tom Thibodeau‘s old role.
Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reported last week that the Wolves are targeting a strong communicator who places high value on the draft and player development.
For Winger, the Timberwolves’ position would represent a promotion, since he currently serves under head of basketball operations Lawrence Frank in Los Angeles. Before he was hired by the Clippers as their general manager in 2017, Winger worked in the Thunder’s front office as an assistant GM under Sam Presti.
Latest On Pelicans’ GM Search
The Pelicans continue to make progress in their search for a new general manager, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic, who reported this morning (via Twitter) that the team was starting to conduct in-person interviews. According to Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter), New Orleans interviewed former Cavaliers GM David Griffin today.
Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune (Twitter link) has confirmed that, in addition to Griffin, the following candidates are on the team’s list:
- Interim GM Danny Ferry
- Warriors assistant GM Larry Harris
- Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon
- Rockets VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas
- Wizards interim GM Tommy Sheppard
Meanwhile, while his name doesn’t show up on Duncan’s list and hadn’t been previously reported, Bucks assistant GM Milt Newton is also in the mix for the GM job in New Orleans, tweets Jabari Young of The Athletic.
It’s not clear whether all of those candidates reciprocate New Orleans’ interest, or if they’ll all interview with the team. Several of them are believed to be options for some of the other clubs around the NBA who are seeking new heads of basketball operations, including the Wizards, so the Pelicans won’t necessarily be able to hire their top choice.
Still, it appears as if the franchise is moving quickly in the hopes of installing a permanent head of basketball operations sooner rather than later. A big offseason looms for the Pelicans, as Anthony Davis‘ future will almost certainly be decided in the coming months.
Wizards Expected To Keep Scott Brooks As Coach
The shakeup in Washington won’t include head coach Scott Brooks, according to David Aldridge of The Athletic. The Wizards fired GM Ernie Grunfeld yesterday as the first step in what could be a massive housecleaning, but multiple sources tell Aldridge that Brooks’ job remains safe.
Brooks has a 124-118 record since taking over in Washington in 2016. He still has two years left on his five-year, $35MM contract, so there’s a financial incentive for the franchise to keep him around. This will be the first time the Wizards will miss the playoffs under his guidance.
“I’ve spent one-on-one time with Scott just to tell him I expect us to do, work hard and play hard and continue to give the fans their money’s worth,” owner Ted Leonsis said Tuesday.
There’s more today on the shakeup in Washington:
- Nuggets executive Tim Connelly is believed to be the top candidate to replace Grunfeld, but the Wizards will strongly consider promoting VP of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard, confirms Ben Standig of NBC Sports Washington. Leonsis told reporters that Sheppard, who has been with the organization for 16 years, will get a shot at the GM post. “I’ve told Tommy it’s not lip service, you’re highly regarded and there’s other teams that want to talk to Tommy and when the time comes, we will interview for the top job,” Leonsis said. Sheppard is also reportedly being considered for the Pelicans’ open GM spot.
- League sources tell Standig that others names to watch in the GM search are Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren and Pelicans interim GM Danny Ferry. Other possibilities include former Cavaliers GM David Griffin and Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon.
- Figuring out what to do with the backcourt will be the greatest challenge for the new GM, notes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. John Wall may miss all of next season with a ruptured Achilles while making $37.8MM in the first year of his supermax contract, while Bradley Beal will be eligible for a supermax of his own this summer if he makes an All-NBA team. If the Wizards decide to rebuild, Beal could find himself on the trade market.
- Grunfeld’s most significant mistake was targeting Kevin Durant in free agency in 2016 and not having a backup plan ready when he signed with the Warriors, Aldridge contends in the Athletic piece. Grunfeld spent two years clearing cap space to make a run at Durant, who never gave the team serious consideration. That meant parting with solid players such as Nene and Trevor Ariza. Grunfeld tried to sign Al Horford after not getting a meeting with Durant, but then gave $64MM to Ian Mahinmi and $26MM to Andrew Nicholson.