Q12543 wrote:Without going into a full-throated defense of Rosas, I will use one of Abe's favorite sayings.....To be fair, I have read in multiple places now that he searched far and wide for a legit starting PF during the weeks leading up to the regular season.
We can blame him for ultimately failing to land a starting caliber PF, but I do believe he tried. So I do not think he was under any illusions that Juancho and Layman were the answer there. And by now he definitely knows they aren't the answer.
I think the problem at this point is as the losses pile up and his younger assets continue to show very limited capabilities as players (e.g. Culver), he's running out of ammunition to go make a trade as the deadline approaches.
Q -
I think you've taken fairness too far. We don't know how hard Rosas tried. We do know that he passed on bigger, stronger and better rebounding or shot-blocking bigs who signed with other teams for far less than Rosas paid Juancho.
And there's no basis for concluding that Rosas wasn't under any illustrious about Juancho. The fact that he gave Juancho $14M guaranteed for two years suggests Rosas was at least under a bit of an illusion when it comes to Juancho. And let's not forget Gersson's constant reference to space, pace and 3-point shooting as well as positionless basketball. The Wolves were took more 3-point shots than 27 other teams last season even though we nearly had the worst 3-point percentage in the League. That suggests he had Juancho in mind all along as a "space and pace" 3-point shooting player Rosas clearly covets.
I'm sure Randle was available for no more than Rosas gave up for Ricky. There were certainly other trade opportunities. As head of basketball operations Rosas is fully responsible for what he didn't do as well as what he did do. And he's clearly responsible for the roster he's assembled.
I agree with one point you made. Rosas will make a significant trade before the deadline out of desperation. It will probably be a terrible trade because there is scant evidence that he's likely to make a really good one.
kekgeek1 wrote:Was listening to Doogie on Skor North (I just watch there youtube from time to time), he says Rosas is still trying to trade for PJ Tucker.
That's the kind of bad move I'd expect from Rosas.
Tucker has been a good defender and 3-point shooter during his career. But he's still undersized at 6'5. Moreover, he's 35 years old and clearly in the twilight of his career. Note also that he's averaging only 6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 32 minutes per game so far this season. That's a bad rebounding number for a PF playing 32 minutes per game. This team needs size up front - both length and strength - rim protection and rebounding. Tucker doesn't provide length, rim-protection or rebounding. If PJ were a free agent and we could simply sign him for the $3M per year we have left under the luxury tax threshold, I'd say we should sign him and see if he can move the needle a bit for us. But it would be ridiculous to give up any valuable assets to acquire him at this point.
If I owned the Wolves and Rosas told me that Houston has agreed to trade Tucker for Ed Davis or Juancho straight up, I'd sign off on the deal. But that's it. No future picks and none of our young players - not JMac, Naz Reid, Nowell, Culver, Okogie, Edwards, McDaniels or Vando. Of course, Glen will let Rosas make any trade he wants because, contrary to the narrative that Glen intervenes too much, he actually almost never intervenes. He makes bad executive hiring decisions, lets those executives dig the team into a deep hole and then allows them to bury the team as they try frantically to climb out of that hole. Switching metaphors, Rosas has wounded an already weak franchise and the sharks - i.e., executives of other teams - are circling and closing in for the kill.
