The Timberwolves finally do the thing
Joel Embiid turned the word Process into a meme as Sam Hinke instituted an intentional losing strategy to acquire talent for the Philadelphia 76ers via the draft. But while #TrustTheProcess became both a rallying cry for a suffering fanbase, as well as the punchline of every joke about that fanbase from the away crowds, there is a fundamental truth underneath it all.
The first step of building any house is laying the foundation.
It’s a simple axiom, yet for ten years, the truth of it has eluded the Wolves as they’ve flailed about, trying to find a stable leader for the organization who understands NBA basketball in the 2010s.
Whether it’s been a bad process (see Thibodeau, Thomas J), no process (Flip Saunders, bless his soul) or a misunderstanding of what a process even is (hello David Kahn), the Wolves have utterly failed to build an institution with any stability, vision, sustainability, or respect. For nine of those past ten years, the Wolves’ front office was helmed by bullies with egregious personal and professional blind spots, who cost the franchise a tremendous amount of respect among its fans and peers and burned through the greatest stockpile of assets the team has ever assembled in its history in the process. The one other year was Flip Saunders, who landed the Wolves uber-talent Karl-Anthony Towns among other things, but landed his own job by sweet talking an owner he had decades of history with, who is notorious for running a country club.
That’s what makes the hiring of Gersson Rosas so encouraging, on both a people and basketball front.
To even get to Rosas, the Wolves employed a process unlike anything they’ve done before. Ethan Casson, the new(ish) CEO of the business side, earned Glen Taylor’s trust through his hard work, outreach, and vision, and was empowered to look for the same in a new President of Basketball Operations. He not only assembled a fantastic list of young, diverse candidates, but he also included a multitude of important voices in the vetting and interview process.
Aside from himself and Glen, candidates spoke with Cheryl Reeve, a 4-time WNBA championship coach, Sianneh Mulbah, essentially the Wolves’ HR manager, Ryan Saunders, the interim coach and son of a franchise icon, Becky, Glen’s wife, and Jim Peterson, who’s broadcasted for the Wolves for over 20 years and has seen more of their joys and failures than anyone else aside from Glen himself.
(It is not coincidence that Mulbah, Peterson and Mrs Taylor - all people who were badly mistreated by Thibs and thoroughly and justifiably disliked him in return - were given prominent seats at the table)
As for the hire itself, Rosas is a young executive who clearly has vision. His introductory press conference was a masterclass in eloquence, clarity and simplicity in laying out a path forward.
But apart from all the specifics Rosas conveyed about the Wolves’ situation - it's roster, salary cap, market, community, fanbase, and decisions about coaching and other front office personnel that are yet to be made - Gersson made clear the one thing that is more important than anything else for a man in his position:
The key to true, sustainable success is having the right process.
That’s it. That’s all there really is to it. Whether it’s basketball, finance, law, education, manufacturing, cinematography, music…..dating, buying a home, getting a dog….having the right process is the key. The foundation has to be built correctly if anything on top if it is going to stay standing.
That’s what Rosas seems to understand that lend reassurance he’s the right man for this job. Don’t take shortcuts. Don’t sell out for the short term. Don’t try to reverse engineer it.
When you handle business the right way, the results take care of themselves.
Yes. For a fanbase of a team whos empty processes have provided nothing but frustration and abandonment for a decade and counting, that’s good music.
