The Rosas Strategy

[Lipoli390]

We have a thread entitled "Rosas Vision." That thread addresses Gersson's apparent expectation that Covington will play more PF next season as part of a more "small-ball" approach. But in the end, who plays where and how much will be decided primarily by the head coach and his coaching staff. The main job of an NBA PBO is to acquire talent and manage the cap so as to enhance the organization's chances of becoming a championship contender - preferable on a sustainable basis like the Spurs, Golden State, Portland and Utah. To succeed, a PBO and his staff need to be excellent talent evaluators with good business savvy. But at it all starts with having a sensible, coherent strategy and then consistently implementing it.

So far, I'm impressed that Rosas appears to have a sensible coherent strategy and he seems to be implementing it consistently. That strategy is predicated an all-star caliber core around Towns. Of course, that means adding or developing at least one all-star caliber player to pair with Towns - preferably two. And it's clear that Rosas understand such a player has to be similar in age to Towns so they can develop, peak and plateau at roughly the same time. Rosas went all in attempting to land a young player who is already playing at an all-star level when he attempted to engineer a sign-and-trade for Russell. It would appear that Gersson's attempt was sabotaged by some combination of Russell and Golden State Warriors. I'm convinced there was nothing more Rosas could do. But it was definitely worth the effort in my view.

Having failed to land Russell and faced with the bad cap situation inherited from Thibodeau, Rosas knows the only ways to get a young all-star caliber player are: (1) developing high-upside young talent already on the roster; (2) drafting high-upside talent; and (3) signing young high-upside talent who have thus far underachieved after 2-3 years in the League. I would say that Rosas done a good job executing his strategy in all three respects. Regarding current roster players, he has hung onto his one truly high-upside young talent, Okogie, who I don't believe was ever on the trade block. And he's added developmental specialists to the organization. Regarding the draft, he traded up in the draft to get a better talent than he believes he could have gotten at #11. Regarding high-upside acquisition, Rosas just signed 3 pretty high-upside underachievers to cheap contracts. Importantly, two of these three (Vonleh and Layman) had upticks in their games last season, which suggests they might be on the threshold of finally breaking through and getting on track to tap into their vast potential.

In my view, the only mistake Gersson has made thus far was declining to swap Covington rather than Saric for what would have been Garland. I think Garland will over time turn out to be much better than Culver and I'm troubled by Covington's knee and his overall lack of durability in his career. But I'm still fundamentally in agreement with Gersson's strategy and I appreciate how he has implemented it consistently.

As fans, we've already started predicting next season's win total. And not surprisingly, most predications are pretty pessimistic. My sense is that the Wolves won't win more games than last season and could easily win no more than 30 games. But that goes with the territory - i.e., with Gersson's strategy, which often entails taking a step back in order to eventually take multiple steps forward. Good organizations are willing to live with that and take the heat in the short term for sake of the longer term. With KAT still 23 years old and on the front end of a 5-year deal, the Wolves have one more chance to get it right and build this team around KAT in the right way. No more hale Mary deals to get an all-star player with attitude issues who is 6 years older than KAT. No more filling the roster with older vets who provide more wins in the short-term but have little relevance long term and take minutes away from the development of younger players who could be part of the future.

Bottom line is that Rosas is, in my view, doing things the right way. And that's refreshing. The outcome will depend on the sum total of his decisions over the next couple years, starting with the decisions he's already made this summer. In the end, it's about good judgment evaluating and selecting players. But it starts with a smart, cohesive strategy implemented consistently. So far, to his credit, that's exactly what Gersson Rosas has done.

[Tactical unit]

Yeah it does seem like we have a GM that is actually good. I don't know that CLEV had any interest in trading Garland away by just adding Covington so your thoughts there may not mean all that much. The only moves I think we may still yet have in the off season are a trade of either Teague or Covington. We will add a relatively young PG to the mix most likely Tyus Jones. If you look at all Rosas moves he is going young and the fact we inquired about D. Wright displays to me that we want a younger PG with upside. It also tells me he's not sold on Tyus Jones and after his 3pt shooting last season and his size, well I like that he's willing to look in other directions. There are some good things about Tyus, his age, potential to develop, assist to TO ratio. I think in the end the only move we see is Tyus coming back on a smaller prove it type of deal. Tyus probably thinks he's worth more so will want to prove a lil something and hit FA again soon.

[Lipoli390]

Yeah it does seem like we have a GM that is actually good. I don't know that CLEV had any interest in trading Garland away by just adding Covington so your thoughts there may not mean all that much. The only moves I think we may still yet have in the off season are a trade of either Teague or Covington. We will add a relatively young PG to the mix most likely Tyus Jones. If you look at all Rosas moves he is going young and the fact we inquired about D. Wright displays to me that we want a younger PG with upside. It also tells me he's not sold on Tyus Jones and after his 3pt shooting last season and his size, well I like that he's willing to look in other directions. There are some good things about Tyus, his age, potential to develop, assist to TO ratio. I think in the end the only move we see is Tyus coming back on a smaller prove it type of deal. Tyus probably thinks he's worth more so will want to prove a lil something and hit FA again soon.

Jon K reported that the Pelicans were willing to trade the 4th picks for #11 and Covington. That's how Rosas could have landed Garland.

I like Tyus and would like to see him re-signed as our #2 PG. But I agree that Rosas appears to be open to other young PGs. I think Quinn Cook would be a good young PG acquisition based on his 3-point shooting.

[KG4Ever]

Yeah it does seem like we have a GM that is actually good. I don't know that CLEV had any interest in trading Garland away by just adding Covington so your thoughts there may not mean all that much. The only moves I think we may still yet have in the off season are a trade of either Teague or Covington. We will add a relatively young PG to the mix most likely Tyus Jones. If you look at all Rosas moves he is going young and the fact we inquired about D. Wright displays to me that we want a younger PG with upside. It also tells me he's not sold on Tyus Jones and after his 3pt shooting last season and his size, well I like that he's willing to look in other directions. There are some good things about Tyus, his age, potential to develop, assist to TO ratio. I think in the end the only move we see is Tyus coming back on a smaller prove it type of deal. Tyus probably thinks he's worth more so will want to prove a lil something and hit FA again soon.

Jon K reported that the Pelicans were willing to trade the 4th picks for #11 and Covington. That's how Rosas could have landed Garland.

I like Tyus and would like to see him re-signed as our #2 PG. But I agree that Rosas appears to be open to other young PGs. I think Quinn Cook would be a good young PG acquisition based on his 3-point shooting.

I'm glad we didn't do that trade. I like Covington and Culver better. My concern with Quinn Cook is lack of defense. I would prefer Delon Wright or resigning Tyus. Next year there are a lot of point guards that are slated for the lottery and so by the end of next offseason, I think we will have our point guard to build around. Meanwhile I'd like to see what Tyus or Delon could do as starter this year, since wins are secondary to developing young talent.

[Monster]

Yeah it does seem like we have a GM that is actually good. I don't know that CLEV had any interest in trading Garland away by just adding Covington so your thoughts there may not mean all that much. The only moves I think we may still yet have in the off season are a trade of either Teague or Covington. We will add a relatively young PG to the mix most likely Tyus Jones. If you look at all Rosas moves he is going young and the fact we inquired about D. Wright displays to me that we want a younger PG with upside. It also tells me he's not sold on Tyus Jones and after his 3pt shooting last season and his size, well I like that he's willing to look in other directions. There are some good things about Tyus, his age, potential to develop, assist to TO ratio. I think in the end the only move we see is Tyus coming back on a smaller prove it type of deal. Tyus probably thinks he's worth more so will want to prove a lil something and hit FA again soon.

Jon K reported that the Pelicans were willing to trade the 4th picks for #11 and Covington. That's how Rosas could have landed Garland.

I like Tyus and would like to see him re-signed as our #2 PG. But I agree that Rosas appears to be open to other young PGs. I think Quinn Cook would be a good young PG acquisition based on his 3-point shooting.

I'm glad we didn't do that trade. I like Covington and Culver better. My concern with Quinn Cook is lack of defense. I would prefer Delon Wright or resigning Tyus. Next year there are a lot of point guards that are slated for the lottery and so by the end of next offseason, I think we will have our point guard to build around. Meanwhile I'd like to see what Tyus or Delon could do as starter this year, since wins are secondary to developing young talent.

Wright turned 27 In April so I'm not sure what his upside is at this point although I like him as a do shit guard.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Let's also not forget we have a green coach who will be charged with developing these young guys. Should be an interesting experiment!

[Tactical unit]

Yeah it does seem like we have a GM that is actually good. I don't know that CLEV had any interest in trading Garland away by just adding Covington so your thoughts there may not mean all that much. The only moves I think we may still yet have in the off season are a trade of either Teague or Covington. We will add a relatively young PG to the mix most likely Tyus Jones. If you look at all Rosas moves he is going young and the fact we inquired about D. Wright displays to me that we want a younger PG with upside. It also tells me he's not sold on Tyus Jones and after his 3pt shooting last season and his size, well I like that he's willing to look in other directions. There are some good things about Tyus, his age, potential to develop, assist to TO ratio. I think in the end the only move we see is Tyus coming back on a smaller prove it type of deal. Tyus probably thinks he's worth more so will want to prove a lil something and hit FA again soon.

Jon K reported that the Pelicans were willing to trade the 4th picks for #11 and Covington. That's how Rosas could have landed Garland.

I like Tyus and would like to see him re-signed as our #2 PG. But I agree that Rosas appears to be open to other young PGs. I think Quinn Cook would be a good young PG acquisition based on his 3-point shooting.

I'm glad we didn't do that trade. I like Covington and Culver better. My concern with Quinn Cook is lack of defense. I would prefer Delon Wright or resigning Tyus. Next year there are a lot of point guards that are slated for the lottery and so by the end of next offseason, I think we will have our point guard to build around. Meanwhile I'd like to see what Tyus or Delon could do as starter this year, since wins are secondary to developing young talent.

Wright turned 27 In April so I'm not sure what his upside is at this point although I like him as a do shit guard.

27yrs old with 4yrs of NBA experience and playing behind Lowry makes him feel younger I guess. I feel like his talent has yet to be fully tapped and he may yet grow into a decent backup PG.

[Monster]

Yeah it does seem like we have a GM that is actually good. I don't know that CLEV had any interest in trading Garland away by just adding Covington so your thoughts there may not mean all that much. The only moves I think we may still yet have in the off season are a trade of either Teague or Covington. We will add a relatively young PG to the mix most likely Tyus Jones. If you look at all Rosas moves he is going young and the fact we inquired about D. Wright displays to me that we want a younger PG with upside. It also tells me he's not sold on Tyus Jones and after his 3pt shooting last season and his size, well I like that he's willing to look in other directions. There are some good things about Tyus, his age, potential to develop, assist to TO ratio. I think in the end the only move we see is Tyus coming back on a smaller prove it type of deal. Tyus probably thinks he's worth more so will want to prove a lil something and hit FA again soon.

Jon K reported that the Pelicans were willing to trade the 4th picks for #11 and Covington. That's how Rosas could have landed Garland.

I like Tyus and would like to see him re-signed as our #2 PG. But I agree that Rosas appears to be open to other young PGs. I think Quinn Cook would be a good young PG acquisition based on his 3-point shooting.

I'm glad we didn't do that trade. I like Covington and Culver better. My concern with Quinn Cook is lack of defense. I would prefer Delon Wright or resigning Tyus. Next year there are a lot of point guards that are slated for the lottery and so by the end of next offseason, I think we will have our point guard to build around. Meanwhile I'd like to see what Tyus or Delon could do as starter this year, since wins are secondary to developing young talent.

Wright turned 27 In April so I'm not sure what his upside is at this point although I like him as a do shit guard.

27yrs old with 4yrs of NBA experience and playing behind Lowry makes him feel younger I guess. I feel like his talent has yet to be fully tapped and he may yet grow into a decent backup PG.

Oh I'd say he is already an above average backup and he can play backup SG also. He kinda reminds me a bit of Dunn who I think if the right team gets him as a rotation guy on the right contract he could be quite valuable which is why I think about Wright too.

[WildWolf2813]

His strategy is to pray Towns doesn't check the NBA standings for the next couple of years because it will get ugly and his rep will further take a beating.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

If we squint [enough to be blind], Noah Vonleh is a Serge Ibaka clone and Jake Layman is Chandler Parsons -- Houston version.

I see what he's doing...