Minnesota Timberwolves: Rosas receives zero executive award votes

The Minnesota Timberwolves hired former Rockets executive Gersson Rosas in May of last year.

The Minnesota Timberwolves essentially overhauled their entire roster this past season – in large part to the vision of current general manager Gersson Rosas. After taking part in a four-team trade that included over ten players and multiple draft picks, Rosas was also able to flip Andrew Wiggins for D’Angelo Russell (while only giving up one draft pick).

The NBA released the list of votes that each general manager received in its annual Executive of the Year award. The winner was Clippers GM Lawrence Frank, with Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti and Miami’s Pat Riley rounding out the top three.

Others receiving more than ten points include Jon Horst (Milwaukee), Masai Ujiri (Toronto), Zach Kleiman (Memphis), and Rob Pelinka (Los Angeles Lakers).

Surprisingly, Gersson Rosas did not receive a single vote for executive of the year, including second and third place votes.

Other than the trades made by Rosas in February, he brought in a number of players through free agency and on two-way deals that made an impact throughout the season — with Lake Layman and Jordan McLaughlin being the two most prominent examples.

The Timberwolves finished with the third-worst record in the NBA and second-worst in the Western Conference, only behind a Golden State Warriors team that was without both Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

Going forward, Minnesota’s road to the playoffs over the next few years does not get any easier. They will be competitive, yes, but so will essentially every other Western Conference team, including the Suns, Spurs, Kings, Grizzlies, and Pelicans.

Not finishing among the top vote-getters is somewhat expected – but not receiving any votes whatsoever is more than surprising given the job Rosas has done in his first year as general manager.