Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Adding more staff, Summer League update

The Minnesota Timberwolves are again adding to their staff with a hire that has history with a Wolves player. Plus, the Summer League Wolves keep winning.

Gersson Rosas has only been the Minnesota Timberwolves‘  president of basketball operations for a couple of months, but he’s spent the bulk of that time span hiring.

Seemingly adding a new coach or front office staff member each week, Rosas has brought in plenty of hires with strong ties to other innovative front offices, including Houston and Philadelphia. He’s also brought in several individuals with connections to players currently on the roster.

First, there was former Portland Trail Blazers assistant David Vanterpool. A runner-up for the head job that eventually went to Ryan Saunders, Vanterpool accepted a role as associate head coach in Minnesota. The Wolves wanted to add D’Angelo Russell to the fold in free agency; Vanterpool was a key part of the development of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum in Portland and is known as a strong defensive mind.

Then, Pablo Prigioni, a former assistant with the Brooklyn Nets who had a far more direct relationship with Russell. When D-Lo ended up with the Warriors, the Wolves took on Shabazz Napier and Treveon Graham, both former Nets players who worked with Prigioni last year.

Bryan Gates, who was an assistant early in the Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins years and is widely credited for helping with the development in Anthony Davis’ game in New Orleans, was brought back after a few years in Sacramento. He’s also an assistant with Team Canada and has worked with Wiggins on the international circuit.

And that doesn’t include the host of front office hires with impressive resumes and connections, with Sachin Gupta and Gianluca Pascucci, chief among them.

Now, the Wolves have brought on board the former Texas Tech Director of Player Development.

Max Lefevre will be the Wolves’ lead video coordinator and an associate player development coach. The obvious connection here is that he spent two of his three years in Lubbock coaching Wolves’ first-round pick Jarrett Culver.

This is different than the infamous “country club” vibe that has surrounded the franchise for much of owner Glen Taylor’s ownership. Instead, it’s a a group pulled together from around the basketball world with diverse backgrounds and experiences, and prior relationships and expertise that allow them to connect with the players is a good thing.

Elsewhere, the Wolves went 4-0 in preliminary play in Las Vegas Summer League and landed the No. 3 seed. They’ll take on the No. 6 seed Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. Central Time in the single-elimination tournament.

Considering that neither Culver nor second-round pick Jaylen Nowell have suited up for the Summer Wolves, it’s impressive that the team has played so well.

We’ll have postgame coverage following Saturday night’s tilt and beyond, provided the squad keeps winning.