Timberwolves' most likely path to roster improvement this summer is through trades

Jul. 9—Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas is known to wheel and deal — something he will have to do again this offseason if he wants to improve his team's roster.

The Wolves currently do not have a pick in the July 29 NBA draft and are over the salary cap. And that makes the path to getting better clear.

"For us as we move forward, this team is going to get better primarily through trades and through development," Rosas said. "I'll also throw free agency in in terms of sign and trades, but in this period of time that we're in going into the draft, I think the draft is a good influence in terms of allowing teams to be more aggressive, to be more active in terms of executing deals, which is not always the case."

Rosas noted some conversations took place at the NBA Draft combine in Chicago. More are happening this weekend in Minneapolis at the Timberwolves' in-market draft workouts attended by front-office personnel from a vast majority of NBA teams.

"It gives us creativity, it gives us the opportunity to acquire players to address needs in different shapes and forms. There is a reality that this is not an exact market. A lot of it is based on relationships, communication and the opportunity to meet needs on both ends of teams and to get to a point where both teams can get to a win-win situation," Rosas said. "This does create an environment here ... where you can speak with teams, address some needs, address some targets. Some of those conversations have already started from Chicago at the combine, so another data point to be together to talk through things is very enticing."

When Rosas first arrived in Minnesota, his goal was to create a "young, strong talent base of competition." The Wolves feel like they've reached that point. Now, it's time to determine which young players to move forward with, and which ones to perhaps move on from while attempting to address other needs.

Minnesota could attempt to add another veteran, but Rosas noted he prefers veterans who can make a big impact on the floor as well as in the locker room. Point guard Ricky Rubio fits that bill, but it wouldn't hurt to add another person in that mold.

"We're a young group that needs leaders, needs examples, needs professionalism," Rosas said. "Ricky has been that for us. We addressed that last year when we knew we were going to go and draft Anthony (Edwards), and we wanted a guy that had worked with great players like Devin Booker and had worked with Donovan Mitchell, and Ricky has been great at fitting that bill for us and helping a guy like Anthony grow and develop at a high level, which is important to us. We value Ricky a ton.

"We would love to have more veterans with leadership and the opportunity to impact on the floor, and that's what's going to help us win sooner. Unfortunately, those guys are at high premiums to acquire, because they're so valuable. You see what veterans are doing with the Phoenix Suns and what they're doing with the Milwaukee Bucks. They impact winning at the highest level and they activate winning when you have a young group that's taking the next step. That's an incredible priority for us. It's just how do we marry leaders with impactful players and try to acquire them. That's a high, high priority on our list."

Because Minnesota does appear to be a team that is ready to compete for a playoff spot starting next season. There are two conflicting timelines, in some sense, with the Wolves. D'Angelo Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns and Malik Beasley are nearing the primes of their careers, while Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, who greatly impressed in their rookie seasons, are just getting into the league.

Can the Wolves both push to win now and position themselves to contend a few years down the line?

"We have to stay flexible. Ant's growth, progression, development over the last season really excites us, but at the end of the day, we have to stay very flexible and versatile. I wouldn't say it hurts us, but at the end of the day, because of what he's doing in such a short period of time, it impacts what we're trying to build with KAT and D'Angelo, and even a guy like Jaden McDaniels," Rosas said.

"We're flexible in that we do have two timelines that we can shift back and forth from, but the goal and the focus is winning here sooner rather than later, but doing it in a responsible way where we can maintain a strong foundation and have continual success. We don't want to dip into one year for the sake of winning. We want to have continual success that we can build off of and have success at the highest level. And that takes continuity, that takes discipline and that takes patience. That's why I highlight that development is such an important initiative for our organization."