The Minnesota Timberwolves are parting ways with president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, according to several reports. Rosas’ dismissal comes five days before the NBA’s start of training camp on Monday, a delicate time for such a decision. But according to Chris Hine of the Star Tribune, “there has been a growing discord and strained relationships between Rosas, the front office and the rest of the organization” in the last few months, leading to his dismissal.
WCCO’s Mike Max reported on Wednesday that Rosas created a culture that allegedly was toxic. Max also reportedly had an “inappropriate relationship” inside the organization.
Max’s story noted that another employee also left the organization abruptly on Wednesday. That may corroborate the report about Rosas having an inappropriate relationship. The timing of the firing is just awful because training camps are set to open soon.
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Timberwolves All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns immediately voiced his opinion on the situation and simply was at a lost for words.
Rosas, who was hired by Minnesota in May 2019, made an assortment of moves during his tenure. Only two players remain from the Timberwolves’ active roster from the 2018-19 season, Towns and guard Josh Okogie.
In the meantime, the Timberwolves have promoted Sachin Gupta to interim head of basketball operations. Gupta is an analytics guru, creator of ESPN’s trade machine, and protege of former Philadelphia 76ers GM Sam Presti. The Timberwolves announced they will begin a search for a permanent replacement but didn’t give an exact timeline to when a new hire will happen.