Minnesota Timberwolves: Wolves roster still potentially in flux?

Minnesota Timberwolves boss Gersson Rosas is still searching for potential roster upgrades.

Yes, Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas has only been on the job a little over 13 months.

And yes, he’s already turned over every roster spot but two.

But that doesn’t mean that Rosas is in set-it-and-forget-it mode, either. Far from it, in fact.

Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Roster still potentially in flux?

The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski quotes Rosas as ready to be as aggressive as ever. Because this article requires a subscription we can’t quote too much of the piece directly, but Rosas says, in part, “I’m not doing my job if I’m not coming in every day to figure out ways to improve our roster and find the best players we can find.”

Rosas goes on to say that he likes the current roster and their potential but reiterates that it’s only potential and until they show more than that, that’s all it is.

It’s hard to disagree with that assessment. Even consider Rosas’ star players.

While Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell were both All-Stars in 2019 at the young age of 23, neither made the squad in 2020, and each regressed in certain areas of their game.

For Towns, that was defensively and on the glass, plus the various injuries he struggled through. For Russell, it was mostly defensively, although a dip in assist rate was somewhat notable as well.

Both players saw their respective overall team performances decline. In Russell’s case, there are the obvious caveats of moving from Brooklyn to an injury-ravaged Golden State Warriors squad, but Towns didn’t have much in the way of excuses after his team started 10-8. Then, two long losing streaks ensued.

All that to say, Rosas has every right to continue to explore upgrades to the roster. Undoubtedly, the Wolves will need them. Does anyone think a lineup of Russell, Towns, Malik Beasley, Josh Okogie, and Juancho Hernangomez is going to get to the Finals? Let’s not call it impossible, but it’s far from likely.

What about the bench? Jarrett Culver has a ton of potential, Jordan McLaughlin appears to be an impressive find at backup point guard, and James Johnson is a nice backup big man.

But this roster absolutely needs more improvement, and Rosas is not about to shy away from the challenge.

To be clear, it’s good to hear him state that publicly, too. It puts the players on the current roster on notice and shows that he isn’t so naive to sit back and hope that his first year on the job produces a playoff team.

There’s work to be done on the Minnesota Timberwolves, and it certainly appears as though Gersson Rosas is the man for the job.