Timberwolves front office thread

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Doogie said that wolves are going big game hunting for a GM and will even look at others teams gms. Wolves might give up draft compensation to get it done. Over the last few weeks he has mentioned brand and fields as possibilities. I would be pissed

I actually do hope that ownership looks outside the organization for talent, especially in terms of finding a President of Basketball Operations. Ideally, I think they pursue some of the more accomplished executives that have experience as a scout, coach, player, or agent. I feel like those backgrounds tend to transfer well in those respective positions, especially when it comes to prospect evaluation. Additionally, I think you retain Sachin Gupta as the Vice President, which was his role before taking over the interim job.

With that said, I would not endorse Elton Brand. That would be a significant misstep, in my opinion.

Agree with your statement. I don't like giving up locks though for front office people off their names aren't Presti or Massi

Oh, yeah, I'm not in favor of giving up draft picks for any executive.

[thedoper]

I think Rosas' great asset was that he spent that early time as a scout. Would hope that whoever comes in has a distinct eye for talent and a track record of talent acquisition. Giving up draft compensation would be mental to find that person imo.

[Monster]

Doogie said that wolves are going big game hunting for a GM and will even look at others teams gms. Wolves might give up draft compensation to get it done. Over the last few weeks he has mentioned brand and fields as possibilities. I would be pissed

I actually do hope that ownership looks outside the organization for talent, especially in terms of finding a President of Basketball Operations. Ideally, I think they pursue some of the more accomplished executives that have experience as a scout, coach, player, or agent. I feel like those backgrounds tend to transfer well in those respective positions, especially when it comes to prospect evaluation. Additionally, I think you retain Sachin Gupta as the Vice President, which was his role before taking over the interim job.

With that said, I would not endorse Elton Brand. That would be a significant misstep, in my opinion.

Agree with your statement. I don't like giving up locks though for front office people off their names aren't Presti or Massi

Oh, yeah, I'm not in favor of giving up draft picks for any executive.

In theory would I trade a non-lottery first rounder to get Presti or Ujiri? Sure I'd consider that. I bet neither OKC or the Raptors would even remotely consider it though. Those executives are really valuable to a franchise. R

It feels like every year we hear reports of a team or new ownership wanting to try and get one of the top executives and usually nothing happens. I'm remembering reports the Knicks were looking to get Ujiri which was simply hilarious. They ended up with Leon Rose. My guess is that some of these teams that try and check in with other franchises are also trying to get any information they can on who might be a good candidate (or in the Wolves case whether Gupta would be a good) as well as any other info about the team like what direction they may take etc.

Elton Brand...gross although I loved the player. Landry Fields...that might be ok but at this point I would prefer Gupta over Fields as he is already here and I see them being roughly equal at this juncture. I think ownership or whoever is calling around the league should be doing some looking around maybe even do some legit interviews if they think there are good candidates. I think unless something REALLY convinced them in the past few months that Gupta is the right guy they should be doing some due diligence trying to actually get the best person they can for the job. I'd probably would have been fine if they just gave Gupta the job when the season was over but I would be like...did they even look around?

[Lipoli390]

I think Rosas' great asset was that he spent that early time as a scout. Would hope that whoever comes in has a distinct eye for talent and a track record of talent acquisition. Giving up draft compensation would be mental to find that person imo.

I agree that experience as a scout helps and was probably one of Gersson's assets as PBO. But the Wolves, like all NBA teams, have a bevy of scouts and basketball people in their organizations - both the front office and coaching staff. As the top basketball executive, the PBO's most important attribute is the ability to process a lot of information and make good judgment. I don't think there are any former NBA scouts on this message board, but we didn't need that background to know that we should have drafted Murray instead of Dunn or Curry over Flynn. In fact, after the Wolves drafted Rubio, half of the large crowd at the Wolves draft party started chanting Curry's name.

I think we tend to overcomplicate or overthink these things sometimes. That's what I did in the 2020 draft. I knew Edwards and Ball were the most talented players in the draft in spite of my lack of NBA scouting experience. But I started to overthink things related to attitude and other tangential issues based on scant evidence to the point where I didn't want the Wolves to draft either one. In truth, a good PBO needs to be good at assembling a high quality staff of assistants and scouts. Then the PBO essentially does what we do with the information we get on line, but with far more and better information about players both inside and outside the NBA. The PBO ultimately has to make a judgment about players, including draft prospects, undrafted free agent prospects and potential trade targets. They also need business savvy when it comes to negotiating and making deals.

I think most NBA PBOs are fairly dim bulbs honestly. They generally have basketball backgrounds, but they have poor judgment or are poor analytical thinkers. So if you're just a little bit competent as an NBA front office executive, you stand out from the rest.

I don't know how good Gupta can be. But I'd take Gupta in a heartbeat over Elton Brand for example.

[thedoper]

I think Rosas' great asset was that he spent that early time as a scout. Would hope that whoever comes in has a distinct eye for talent and a track record of talent acquisition. Giving up draft compensation would be mental to find that person imo.

I agree that experience as a scout helps and was probably one of Gersson's assets as PBO. But the Wolves, like all NBA teams, have a bevy of scouts and basketball people in their organizations - both the front office and coaching staff. As the top basketball executive, the PBO's most important attribute is the ability to process a lot of information and make good judgment. I don't think there are any former NBA scouts on this message board, but we didn't need that background to know that we should have drafted Murray instead of Dunn or Curry over Flynn. In fact, after the Wolves drafted Rubio, half of the large crowd at the Wolves draft party started chanting Curry's name.

I think we tend to overcomplicate or overthink these things sometimes. That's what I did in the 2020 draft. I knew Edwards and Ball were the most talented players in the draft in spite of my lack of NBA scouting experience. But I started to overthink things related to attitude and other tangential issues based on scant evidence to the point where I didn't want the Wolves to draft either one. In truth, a good PBO needs to be good at assembling a high quality staff of assistants and scouts. Then the PBO essentially does what we do with the information we get on line, but with far more and better information about players both inside and outside the NBA. The PBO ultimately has to make a judgment about players, including draft prospects, undrafted free agent prospects and potential trade targets. They also need business savvy when it comes to negotiating and making deals.

I think most NBA PBOs are fairly dim bulbs honestly. They generally have basketball backgrounds, but they have poor judgment or are poor analytical thinkers. So if you're just a little bit competent as an NBA front office executive, you stand out from the rest.

I don't know how good Gupta can be. But I'd take Gupta in a heartbeat over Elton Brand for example.

Ultimately the talent decisions fall on the POBO even with great support around them. I liked that Rosas spent a lot of time in the trenches, and in the G league, scraping the barrel for talent. I don't think its the top picks that I worry as much about at this point as finding someone to get us value at picks in the 20s, or undrafted free Agents. Clearly Rosas had a gift there and I don't know that any POBO can build the infrastructure to be able to find that unique talent.

[Monster]

I think Rosas' great asset was that he spent that early time as a scout. Would hope that whoever comes in has a distinct eye for talent and a track record of talent acquisition. Giving up draft compensation would be mental to find that person imo.

I agree that experience as a scout helps and was probably one of Gersson's assets as PBO. But the Wolves, like all NBA teams, have a bevy of scouts and basketball people in their organizations - both the front office and coaching staff. As the top basketball executive, the PBO's most important attribute is the ability to process a lot of information and make good judgment. I don't think there are any former NBA scouts on this message board, but we didn't need that background to know that we should have drafted Murray instead of Dunn or Curry over Flynn. In fact, after the Wolves drafted Rubio, half of the large crowd at the Wolves draft party started chanting Curry's name.

I think we tend to overcomplicate or overthink these things sometimes. That's what I did in the 2020 draft. I knew Edwards and Ball were the most talented players in the draft in spite of my lack of NBA scouting experience. But I started to overthink things related to attitude and other tangential issues based on scant evidence to the point where I didn't want the Wolves to draft either one. In truth, a good PBO needs to be good at assembling a high quality staff of assistants and scouts. Then the PBO essentially does what we do with the information we get on line, but with far more and better information about players both inside and outside the NBA. The PBO ultimately has to make a judgment about players, including draft prospects, undrafted free agent prospects and potential trade targets. They also need business savvy when it comes to negotiating and making deals.

I think most NBA PBOs are fairly dim bulbs honestly. They generally have basketball backgrounds, but they have poor judgment or are poor analytical thinkers. So if you're just a little bit competent as an NBA front office executive, you stand out from the rest.

I don't know how good Gupta can be. But I'd take Gupta in a heartbeat over Elton Brand for example.

Ultimately the talent decisions fall on the POBO even with great support around them. I liked that Rosas spent a lot of time in the trenches, and in the G league, scraping the barrel for talent. I don't think its the top picks that I worry as much about at this point as finding someone to get us value at picks in the 20s, or undrafted free Agents. Clearly Rosas had a gift there and I don't know that any POBO can build the infrastructure to be able to find that unique talent.

When Rosas was hired some people knocked him for not being a true basketball guy as he never played the sport etc. Now it seems reasonable to give him credit for having a pretty good eye for talent.

Is Gupta a guy that has an eye for talent? I know he has been touted as a guy that sees things other don't and being able to come up with creative ways to acquire players or extract value (except nothing happened at the trade deadline lol). How exactly can you be good at knowing how to do that type of thing without being actually able to assess the assets/players? I'm not saying he is some sort of amazing scout but are we sure he doesn't know talent when he sees it?

[Lipoli390]

I think Rosas' great asset was that he spent that early time as a scout. Would hope that whoever comes in has a distinct eye for talent and a track record of talent acquisition. Giving up draft compensation would be mental to find that person imo.

I agree that experience as a scout helps and was probably one of Gersson's assets as PBO. But the Wolves, like all NBA teams, have a bevy of scouts and basketball people in their organizations - both the front office and coaching staff. As the top basketball executive, the PBO's most important attribute is the ability to process a lot of information and make good judgment. I don't think there are any former NBA scouts on this message board, but we didn't need that background to know that we should have drafted Murray instead of Dunn or Curry over Flynn. In fact, after the Wolves drafted Rubio, half of the large crowd at the Wolves draft party started chanting Curry's name.

I think we tend to overcomplicate or overthink these things sometimes. That's what I did in the 2020 draft. I knew Edwards and Ball were the most talented players in the draft in spite of my lack of NBA scouting experience. But I started to overthink things related to attitude and other tangential issues based on scant evidence to the point where I didn't want the Wolves to draft either one. In truth, a good PBO needs to be good at assembling a high quality staff of assistants and scouts. Then the PBO essentially does what we do with the information we get on line, but with far more and better information about players both inside and outside the NBA. The PBO ultimately has to make a judgment about players, including draft prospects, undrafted free agent prospects and potential trade targets. They also need business savvy when it comes to negotiating and making deals.

I think most NBA PBOs are fairly dim bulbs honestly. They generally have basketball backgrounds, but they have poor judgment or are poor analytical thinkers. So if you're just a little bit competent as an NBA front office executive, you stand out from the rest.

I don't know how good Gupta can be. But I'd take Gupta in a heartbeat over Elton Brand for example.

Ultimately the talent decisions fall on the POBO even with great support around them. I liked that Rosas spent a lot of time in the trenches, and in the G league, scraping the barrel for talent. I don't think its the top picks that I worry as much about at this point as finding someone to get us value at picks in the 20s, or undrafted free Agents. Clearly Rosas had a gift there and I don't know that any POBO can build the infrastructure to be able to find that unique talent.

I worry about the top picks a lot. That's the part you can't afford to screw up. Just get that part right - draft the Murrays and the Curry's instead of the Dunn's and the Flynns and you're on your way to achieving something.

As for Gersson's eye for talent, we don't know what role, if any, he had in identifying guys like JMac, Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell. Those guys may have been brought to his attention by scouts or others in the organization. In fact, that's likely. What I do give Rosas credit for is deciding to bring those guys in and ultimately sign them. That's why I think he was a good PBO. It was the final judgments he made - to bring in and sign those somewhat under-the-radar guys - but also to select Edwards as our top pick instead of selecting Wiseman or trading down. I give him credit for taking a risk on McDaniels who everyone in the League knew was extremely talented. McDaniels' talent wasn't a mystery to anyone, but Rosas was willing to take the risk on McDaniels in spite of the lack of his poor productivity as a freshman and talk about his attitude issues. While I think Rosas gave up too much for DLO, I still give him credit for his bold leadership in going after the guy he wanted and getting rid of the Wiggins' contract in the process. I give him credit for turning his Culver and Juancho mistakes into Pat Beverley We don't know what role Rosas had in finding guys, but we do know he made the ultimate decisions that assembled this season's 46-win team. That's what we should be looking for in a PBO -- judgment and leadership. Those are the two verifiable things that we know Rosas provided.

What I think Rosas lacked was business savvy. I think he blinked in his negotiations with the Warriors in the DLO deal. I also think he was naive to trade up for Garland without knowing for sure he could get him and getting stuck with Culver in the process. But I also think he assembled a first-rate staff, including Gupta, to advise him and I suspect he listened to and processed their advice in making his decisions. That, plus his judgment and bold leadership made Rosas a net plus PBO. I don't know if Gupta is the right guy. But if ownership is smart, they'll hire someone (maybe Gupta) who is good at processing and assimilating the information he gets from his many scouts, assistants and other sources, and who then shows sound judgment and leadership in making decisions based on that information and analysis.

[kekgeek]

Dane is now reporting the wolves looking at a top 5 GM for their opening. Doogie said it wasn't brand or fields and it's currently head guys. Said it was 1 East guy and 2 west guys, it is not Frank or Masai according to Doogie

[Lipoli390]

Doogie said that wolves are going big game hunting for a GM and will even look at others teams gms. Wolves might give up draft compensation to get it done. Over the last few weeks he has mentioned brand and fields as possibilities. I would be pissed

I actually do hope that ownership looks outside the organization for talent, especially in terms of finding a President of Basketball Operations. Ideally, I think they pursue some of the more accomplished executives that have experience as a scout, coach, player, or agent. I feel like those backgrounds tend to transfer well in those respective positions, especially when it comes to prospect evaluation. Additionally, I think you retain Sachin Gupta as the Vice President, which was his role before taking over the interim job.

With that said, I would not endorse Elton Brand. That would be a significant misstep, in my opinion.

Agree with your statement. I don't like giving up locks though for front office people off their names aren't Presti or Massi

Oh, yeah, I'm not in favor of giving up draft picks for any executive.

In theory would I trade a non-lottery first rounder to get Presti or Ujiri? Sure I'd consider that. I bet neither OKC or the Raptors would even remotely consider it though. Those executives are really valuable to a franchise. R

It feels like every year we hear reports of a team or new ownership wanting to try and get one of the top executives and usually nothing happens. I'm remembering reports the Knicks were looking to get Ujiri which was simply hilarious. They ended up with Leon Rose. My guess is that some of these teams that try and check in with other franchises are also trying to get any information they can on who might be a good candidate (or in the Wolves case whether Gupta would be a good) as well as any other info about the team like what direction they may take etc.

Elton Brand...gross although I loved the player. Landry Fields...that might be ok but at this point I would prefer Gupta over Fields as he is already here and I see them being roughly equal at this juncture. I think ownership or whoever is calling around the league should be doing some looking around maybe even do some legit interviews if they think there are good candidates. I think unless something REALLY convinced them in the past few months that Gupta is the right guy they should be doing some due diligence trying to actually get the best person they can for the job. I'd probably would have been fine if they just gave Gupta the job when the season was over but I would be like...did they even look around?

That's a good analysis, Cam. It's simply not realistic to think that the Wolves could pry Presti or Ujiri away. Having said that, I also agree with you that the Wolves ownership should do their due diligence on other candidates before moving forward for another year or more with Gupta. If they hire Elton Brand, I'll have some serious reservations about this new ownership group.

It's really unfortunate we lost Rosas. I was among the many who criticized him pretty harshly for some of his moves. But overall, he was very good in my view and probably the best PBO the Wolves have ever had by far. Just our luck that when we finally got a competent PBO, the guy tripped up over his own schlong.

[Monster]

I was trying to find out more info about Steve Senior (it's hard to even find a pic of him) and I stumbled across this story. Apparently he is longtime friends (they went to middle school together) with Tim Howard.

https://theathletic.com/893067/2019/04/01/how-tim-howards-love-for-basketball-helped-bring-soccer-to-memphis/?amp=1