Minnesota Sports Forum

So according to Jon K Gianluca Pascucci was let go and the Wolves hired Steve Senior from the Grizzlies to be the assistant GM for the Wolves. Memphis has been doing well lately so it's hard to fault that. Who is making these decisions? Gupta? A collaborative effort? Lore and Glen have input?

Wolfson claims that there have been calls around to interview some people for the head of the front office. If you believe Wolfson it would make some sense to maybe interview some candidates as well as Gupta instead of just handing Gupta the job. Personally I hope Gupta gets the job and they hire some more good people around him. The draft is weeks away it seems unlikely they are gonna hire someone before then. Is Gupta going to get another audition for the draft and if he can make some moves to improve the team? Idk who is making these decisions at the ownerships level. Dane Moore said on a recent podcast that people with the Wolves were part of the decision to let Dave Benz go. He assumes that's just a sign that Lore and Arod are going to be aggressive in trying to improve the franchise in any way possible. I'm cool with not doing the status quo thing but moving on from Benz seems like a weird thing to do.

Anyway what happens in the front office is a big deal. We enjoyed some real competence (along with some missteps) during the Rosas era so I'd like to see that continue. I really hope we don't screw this up.

Great post, Monster. It's interesting that our two new owners seem to be asserting themselves aggressively. I share your concern about what that might mean. As you noted, we enjoyed some real competence under Rosas. I know that Rosas screwed up by screwing around with another employee, but it seems clear to me that ownership wanted him out for other reasons. It would seem that the two signature moves by the new owners thus far are firing Rosas and firing Benz. Neither move inspires confidence. But I think they made the right decision to have Gupta fill the role at least on an interim basis. And what really matters are the decisions ownership makes going forward.

Doogie was on Skor North the day before the Wolves hired the Grizzlies assistant GM. Doogie said he asked a front office member about does he think Gupta will get the full time gig and what Doogie said what the GM said was "I would be more worried about Lore and Arod having the money to buy the Wolves". This is not the first time Doogie has mentioned this, that at the moment Lore and Arod do not have the funds to buy the team. Then rumors (reports later denied the rumors) that Arod was trying to buy the Marlins. Now I don't care if Arod owns the Marlins or not but I do think it is kind of weird that if he is struggling to buy the Wolves why is he trying to buy another franchise. Is this a sign that Lore and Arod need to go cheaper then the Wolves and go with a low earning MLB team 1st. Idk. Also Doogie mentioned that Taylor might be getting cold feet now. Just something to keep our eyes on.

I want to say also, Doogie sucks. Like he is wrong a ton and he takes any info he ever gets and just runs with it and any little info he gets he acts like it is straight fact. So its not like Jon K is saying this but I did think it was interesting.

lipoli390 wrote:Great post, Monster. It's interesting that our two new owners seem to be asserting themselves aggressively. I share your concern about what that might mean. As you noted, we enjoyed some real competence under Rosas. I know that Rosas screwed up by screwing around with another employee, but it seems clear to me that ownership wanted him out for other reasons. It would seem that the two signature moves by the new owners thus far are firing Rosas and firing Benz. Neither move inspires confidence. But I think they made the right decision to have Gupta fill the role at least on an interim basis. And what really matters are the decisions ownership makes going forward.

It should be noted that Gupta negotiated the 1 year extension with Beverly. Beverly wanted 2 years and the Wolves stayed firm at 1 year. I thought that was some good work and maybe shows that Gupta is willing to stay firm which could be key as the Wolves are gonna have to figure out how much to pay some players this summer and other young players in the following offseason etc.

Let's see what they do to fill Benz spot. Maybe they hire a really terrific person for that role. I'm a little skeptical but I would also not be shocked if they found someone that ended up being good.

Until the team is no longer owned by Glen, always be skeptical.

Before the season, I was on board with giving Sachin Gupta the job and responsibility of leading this franchise. Having a full season under his belt, I'm less confident in my initial feelings. I didn't appreciate Gupta allowing a fixable and noticeable issue with the roster to linger -- lack of size and rebounding -- from start to finish. There were avenues to improving this area and he either could not or would not make the necessary deals to correct the problem. Media members that cover this team must like him, however, because most if not all of them lauded his decision to sit and do absolutely nothing. Head-scratching to me.

I now lean towards the position of Gupta being someone I'd value highly in my front office, but not someone I'd want running the show and calling the shots. I obviously haven't worked with the man, but my view from a distance is that I don't think he has the basketball savvy or deal-making skills to thrive in that role.

I'd prefer trying to pry Calvin Booth back away from Denver or Justin Zanik away from Utah with Danny Ainge lingering in some weird executive role and Dennis Lindsey in an advisory role there. Too many chefs in the kitchen.

kekgeek1 wrote:Doogie was on Skor North the day before the Wolves hired the Grizzlies assistant GM. Doogie said he asked a front office member about does he think Gupta will get the full time gig and what Doogie said what the GM said was "I would be more worried about Lore and Arod having the money to buy the Wolves". This is not the first time Doogie has mentioned this, that at the moment Lore and Arod do not have the funds to buy the team. Then rumors (reports later denied the rumors) that Arod was trying to buy the Marlins. Now I don't care if Arod owns the Marlins or not but I do think it is kind of weird that if he is struggling to buy the Wolves why is he trying to buy another franchise. Is this a sign that Lore and Arod need to go cheaper then the Wolves and go with a low earning MLB team 1st. Idk. Also Doogie mentioned that Taylor might be getting cold feet now. Just something to keep our eyes on.

I want to say also, Doogie sucks. Like he is wrong a ton and he takes any info he ever gets and just runs with it and any little info he gets he acts like it is straight fact. So its not like Jon K is saying this but I did think it was interesting.

Interesting - sort of. But as you noted, Kek, Doogie is notoriously unreliable. The most memorable of his countless erroneous reports was when the Wolves were on the clock in the 2014 draft and Doogie tweeted that the Wolves were about to draft Adreian Payne. I remember it well because that's the year I had lunch with Flip Saunders 10 days before the draft and he told me the Wolves were going to draft Zach LaVine if still available. Lord only knows who Doogie's source was for that. Or maybe he just made it up, which I think he does quite a bit.

We can't know for sure whether Lore and Arod have the finances to buy the team. But the fact that the NBA Board of Governors has already approved the first increment strongly suggests there are no serious financial concerns. A-Rod's situation isn't particularly important since Marc Lore is the money guy in that partnership. And Lore is a serious businessman who doesn't strike me as someone who's going to risk his reputation by entering into a high-profile purchase agreement for the Wolves without a high level of confidence he can eventually close the deal. Finally, I'm sure Lore and A-Rod can always find a third partner locally if necessary. Watching Lore sitting court side and seeing how much Lore and A-Rod have asserted themselves thur far, they don't look like guys who might NOT own this team. As for Taylor getting cold feet, that's ridiculous. He's been trying to sell the team for years but couldn't find buyers he liked and who he thought he could trust. I think he loves the situation he's in where Lore and A-Rod have allowed Glen to transition out slowly as the team passes to a couple of guys he really likes.

Camden wrote:Before the season, I was on board with giving Sachin Gupta the job and responsibility of leading this franchise. Having a full season under his belt, I'm less confident in my initial feelings. I didn't appreciate Gupta allowing a fixable and noticeable issue with the roster to linger -- lack of size and rebounding -- from start to finish. There were avenues to improving this area and he either could not or would not make the necessary deals to correct the problem. Media members that cover this team must like him, however, because most if not all of them lauded his decision to sit and do absolutely nothing. Head-scratching to me.

I now lean towards the position of Gupta being someone I'd value highly in my front office, but not someone I'd want running the show and calling the shots. I obviously haven't worked with the man, but my view from a distance is that I don't think he has the basketball savvy or deal-making skills to thrive in that role.

I'd prefer trying to pry Calvin Booth back away from Denver or Justin Zanik away from Utah with Danny Ainge lingering in some weird executive role and Dennis Lindsey in an advisory role there. Too many chefs in the kitchen.

Cam - I hear what you're saying and I share your disappointment in Gupta allowing the size/rebounding problem to linger. But I haven't reached the point yet where I'm leaning towards replacing Gupta in the top position. As we all know, the size/rebounding problem was created by Rosas who stubbornly refused to acknowledge the need for size as he pursued his vision of a Rockets-like small-ball team. It's true that Gupta failed to address that problem via trade before the February deadline. And perhaps he could have addressed it via free agency shortly after the trade deadline. Then again, who knows what trade or free agency opportunities he really had. No telling who he could have acquired in a trade or what the Wolves would have had to give up. I remember that you and I wanted Gupta to pick up a rebounding big like Moses Brown shortly after the deadline, but there was a luxury tax concern and we can't know for sure what/when the tipping point was for that concern. I think he waited too long to sign Monroe, but I'm not sure how much an earlier signing would have impacted the Wolves playoff position.

My gut tells me that you're right about Gupta not having the basketball savvy or deal-making skills to thrive in the top position and that he's best suited as the #2. But my head is telling me to wait for more evidence before I lean one way or the other.

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:Before the season, I was on board with giving Sachin Gupta the job and responsibility of leading this franchise. Having a full season under his belt, I'm less confident in my initial feelings. I didn't appreciate Gupta allowing a fixable and noticeable issue with the roster to linger -- lack of size and rebounding -- from start to finish. There were avenues to improving this area and he either could not or would not make the necessary deals to correct the problem. Media members that cover this team must like him, however, because most if not all of them lauded his decision to sit and do absolutely nothing. Head-scratching to me.

I now lean towards the position of Gupta being someone I'd value highly in my front office, but not someone I'd want running the show and calling the shots. I obviously haven't worked with the man, but my view from a distance is that I don't think he has the basketball savvy or deal-making skills to thrive in that role.

I'd prefer trying to pry Calvin Booth back away from Denver or Justin Zanik away from Utah with Danny Ainge lingering in some weird executive role and Dennis Lindsey in an advisory role there. Too many chefs in the kitchen.

Cam - I hear what you're saying and I share your disappointment in Gupta allowing the size/rebounding problem to linger. But I haven't reached the point yet where I'm leaning towards replacing Gupta in the top position. As we all know, the size/rebounding problem was created by Rosas who stubbornly refused to acknowledge the need for size as he pursued his vision of a Rockets-like small-ball team. It's true that Gupta failed to address that problem via trade before the February deadline. And perhaps he could have addressed it via free agency shortly after the trade deadline. Then again, who knows what trade or free agency opportunities he really had. No telling who he could have acquired in a trade or what the Wolves would have had to give up. I remember that you and I wanted Gupta to pick up a rebounding big like Moses Brown shortly after the deadline, but there was a luxury tax concern and we can't know for sure what/when the tipping point was for that concern. I think he waited too long to sign Monroe, but I'm not sure how much an earlier signing would have impacted the Wolves playoff position.

My gut tells me that you're right about Gupta not having the basketball savvy or deal-making skills to thrive in the top position and that he's best suited as the #2. But my head is telling me to wait for more evidence before I lean one way or the other.

Cam I think your position based on their lack of adding a player to the frontcourt is a fair. I listened to a few different podcasts yesterday so I can't remember who said this but someone was like if there was even .002 percent chance that Prince got those incentives you don't sign anyone because if he hits them and the Wolves go into the luxury tax and not only have to pay in but then don't get the millions of Lux tax payments from the league and you have to call Glen and ownership that...well that's probably the end of Gupta's chance at the job. That might be going a little too far but I mean...yeah. Being so close to the luxury tax was a pretty big factor in what the Wolves could or couldn't do.

I'll say this let's also see what value they can get for having multiple 2nd rounders. If they are able to utilize them for some sort worthwhile of value before or during the draft then it may make sense to some extent they held off on doing a deal. If they end up just selling even one for cash...then it's easy to say they should have done something even minor that could have opened up salary to sign a guy or make a deal earlier. This is complete speculation and I don't think it's likely but maybe Gupta had a sense that there are teams that value getting back into the 2nd round this year that don't have a pick.

It sounds like they planned to sign Monroe earlier than they did but he signed the 10-day it's Utah which netted Monroe more money than if the Wolves had signed him a few days earlier for the rest of the season.

Ultimately where we ware sitting now the Wolves had a good season made the playoffs (so to some extent whether we added a big in the regular season doesn't matter) and so to me the biggest question now is whether or not a move that could have been made would have helped them in the Memphis series. Would making a Montrezl Harrell deal have been the difference in the series? Maybe idk it does feel like he would have been helpful. They also didn't know at the trade deadline who they were going to be playing. For example how much would he play in the playoffs if they were facing the warriors? Can they sign someone that good or better to a mid-level deal this offseason or would it have made sense to make a trade and be able to sign someone like Harrell for a little more than that? I like Harrell but he probably isn't the answer next to Towns but he would certainly be an upgrade for the roster.

As for your list of possible options Calvin Booth might be a guy that Gupta would want to work with...or he might think I'm just as qualified as he is or more. Grabbing a liger guy from Utah sounds good and Zanik might be like...I'll let someone else figure what to do with that Utah roster.

One thing I'll mention here is that it looks like the luxury tax is calculated at the end of the last game so the Wolves or other teams are able to make deals before the draft and during it without worry about that. That means the Wolves could use the 4 million trade exception they got in the Rubio deal before or during a draft day deal or before it expires before the end of the league year. There is all sorts of ways the Wolves could use that. They could try and get a young player on a rookie deal that a team is willing to move on from. The Wolves could take on salary from a team with salary cap concerns and or a roster crunch like Dallas and maybe get something for it. Adding that player might even help in a separate deal later to help match salaries. With almost 30 million under the Lux tax and some various assets the Wolves have some flexibility to make moves this offseason. Is Gupta the right guy for the job? Will they actually hire someone else? The draft a little more than a month away are they going to be able to really hire someone from another team before then?

Good post, Monster. There are a lot of complexities to managing players, rosters and trades. For now, I'll stick with the guy with a degree from MIT to handle those complexities. :).