Post#4 » by shrink » Fri Sep 16, 2022 4:30 pm
I also wanted to use this opportunity to point out something that many haven’t mentioned .. Rosas has played hardball before, and lost.
In 2019, Gersson Rosas was the GM of my Minnesota Timberwolves. He had just traded #11 and Dario Saric to move up to the #6 pick. He had identified a player at #5 that fit the Wolves, that didn’t seem to fit the team at #5. For weeks leading up to the draft, he made multiple offers to try to move up one spot, and while the other team was open to a trade, he refused to meet that team’s price. This continued even during the draft, when the team was on the clock to make that pick, but he wouldn’t meet their price. For those that don’t know it already, Cleveland drafted Darius Garland at#5, and Rosas selected Jarrett Culver at #6.
Yes, it was just moving up one slot, and the Cavs had just seen an interesting rookie season from Collin Sexton, but think about the impact this had on both teams, and the NBA as a whole! Garland looks to be a superstar for the Cavs, and Culver is now playing on a two-way contract. But even bigger is that if the Wolves had Garland, Rosas likely wouldn’t have traded Wiggins and a pick to the Warriors for D’Angelo Russell, and adding Wiggins may have helped the Warriors win the NBA title!
If Rosas made the decision to play hardball on his own, and not just following Rose’s instructions, it’s disappointing to see the same mistake play out a second time. Maybe the Cavs wanted an overpay to move up one spot, or the Jazz wanted an overpay for Mitchell, but if it’s for the right player, even an overpay might be worth the longterm benefits. Rosas should have learned that lesson the first time.
