Minnesota Timberwolves: Grading GM Gersson Rosas’s tenure
Minnesota Timberwolves: Grading the trades Rosas has made
Gersson Rosas has made ten trades since he became the general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are listed below.
"(2019-20) – Traded 11th overall pick + Dario Saric for 6th overall pick. – Acquired Shabazz Napier + Treveon Graham from Golden State. – Acquired Jake Layman in sign-and-trade from Portland. – Traded Jeff Teague + Treveon Graham for Allen Crabbe. – Traded Jordan Bell, Robert Covington, Keita Bates-Diop, and Shabazz Napier and received Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Juan Hernangomez, Evan Turner, and a 2020 first-round pick. – Traded Andrew Wiggins, 2021 first-round pick, and a 2021 second-round pick and received D’Angelo Russell, Omari Spellman, and Jacob Evans. – Traded Gorgui Dieng for James Johnson. (2020-21) – Traded Jacob Evans, Omari Spellman, and a 2026 second-round pick for Ed Davis. – Traded James Johnson, 17th overall pick, and 2024 second-round pick and received Ricky Rubio, the 23rdoverall pick, and 28th overall pick. – Traded 33rd overall pick for 2023 second-round pick."
Okay, I know. That’s a lot. Let that digest for a second.
The trade market has been Minnesota Timberwolves general manager Gersson Rosas’s main method of roster improvement – whether it be during draft night or following free agency. And it shows. Most of the players on the Timberwolves roster have been acquired via trade: D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Juan Hernangomez, Jarred Vanderbilt, the list continues.
And that’s perfectly fine. When you are a small market team – bringing in players via trade is a certain way to bring in players – free agency is much less of an option for Minnesota than it would be for the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers.
However, that said, some of these moves just are not helpful. The first being the trade that sent Dario Saric to Phoenix. While I feel as though Jarrett Culver may not have been the original target when Rosas traded up in the 2020 NBA Draft (most believe the deal was for Garland, who was picked one spot before Minnesota), it still is an indictment on management for making the selection.
Additionally, the D’Angelo Russell trade looks worse by the month, although it is hard to fully grade that one with limited games shared between he and Towns.
Grade on Trades/FA signings: B