Timberwolves

Rosas Knows He Can Always Flip a Player On a Mid-Sized Deal

Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski (USA TODAY Sports)

Every Minnesota Timberwolves fan has had to endure poor management. Under Tom Thibodeau’s watch, Gorgui Dieng got a raise and went from a starter to a hefty cap hit on the bench overnight because he landed a large deal during the cap influx of 2016. It wasn’t as bad as, say, the Timofey Mozgov contract, and it turned out that the Gorgui deal was not the albatross it was made out to be.

However, overinflated mid-size contracts can set off a few chain reactions. Every offseason teams do their best to retain important players when they become free agents. A player’s value can be raised if he succeeds in the team’s system, or they can retain a lower cap value if he fails to drive winning. It usually tends to be the latter, but teams are often caught in a predicament: How do you let a proven player go, even if he may regress the next season? This causes a many teams to overpay for their own players.

This is something we saw with the New York Knicks this offseason. They gave out a combined $65.5 million over the next two seasons to Nerlens Noel, Derrick Rose, and Alec Burks. They had a successful season and wanted to make sure they went out to get their guys back to fill in around their core.

This strategy works well in a volatile trade market where even the worst contracts can still get moved. We saw Russell Westbrook get flipped for John Wall last season, and Wall was coming off an Achilles injury that made him almost untradable. Westbrook was then traded for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harrell, who are all younger pieces with manageable contracts. It shows that positive things can still come from mistakes in the front office as long as you stay open-minded.

A Chain of Trades

The Wolves have had their own string of contract mistakes but made a strong comeback through trades. Gorgui Dieng was signed to a four-year, $64 million dollar deal on Oct. 31, 2016. He had shown a lot of promise as a shot-blocker and defensive pairing next to Karl-Anthony Towns.

But this all began to go downhill in Thibodeau’s second and third seasons as coach and president. Dieng saw his minutes diminish and lost his starting role. He needed a change of scenery where his talents would be better utilized, especially with the emerging Naz Reid taking his minutes. The end result? A classic NBA trade cycle.

Gorgui was flipped at the deadline for NBA veteran James Johnson. Johnson went on to serve as Minnesota’s point-forward with the revamped roster for the rest of the season. He averaged 12 points per game on efficient shooting and offered his veteran presence at a position of need. At the time he had a near-identical contract to Gorgui, allowing the Wolves to make this trade without further hampering their cap situation.

Asset Growing

Going into the 2020 draft, the Wolves had the 17th-overall pick after trading Robert Covington the day before, but they would not stand pat. They wanted to deal Johnson in order to make the roster younger. The Wolves took both of these agendas, packaged them together in a three-team trade, and loaded up on talent. Packaging players can turn any poor asset into one that’s manageable for any team, it just takes a capable GM who can swallow the misfortunes of his own pride — or in this case, undoing Thibodeau’s mistakes.

The Wolves went on to acquire future core pieces in Jaden McDaniels by moving back to the 28th pick and landed returning veteran Ricky Rubio with two years left on his $17 million contract. Amidst all this, he landed another asset in draft-and-stash Argentinian forward Leandro Bolmaro.

This reboot goes back to the fallout of Jimmy Butler, showing that it is a long cycle. Gersson Rosas has moved mid- to large-sized contracts with aplomb since taking over. It is an indication to fans that signing players like Juancho Hernangómez even Andrew Wiggins to negative-value contracts is never the end of the world. Every player has enough value to be part of a trade that rejuvenates a roster.

Continued Cycle

We saw another, more conspicuous instance this offseason with the Wolves packaging Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangómez for Patrick Beverley. Rosas masterfully got value for two players who needed a change of scenery and addressed a need in Beverely.

The Culver ties needed to be severed, he was a disappointing pick who has been injured. Rosas acknowledged he made a mistake and moved on, and Culver was not projected to be part of the rotation this season. If he turns things around with the Memphis Grizzlies, that’s great for his career. Juancho had soured on the Wolves after they wouldn’t let him play in the Olympics due to injury, and he was not expected to see the floor much anyways.

Controllable assets are the name of the game. This is another example of how well Rosas has gauged the trade market and made under-the-radar moves to improve the roster. Even if they turn out to be rentals, the Wolves should get production from the players he brought in. And if they struggle Rosas will be able to trade them for a fresh face.

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Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski (USA TODAY Sports)

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