The Timberwolves introduced Gersson Rosas as their new President of Basketball operations in a press conference on Monday morning at Target Center.

Wolves radio voice Alan Horton hosted the presser with owner Glen Taylor, Rosas and CEO Ethan Casson. It was obvious throughout that the Wolves believe they have someone in Rosas who has a clear vision for the organization and is ready to take them to new heights.

Taylor, who made the final decision on the Rosas hire, explained what he was looking for in a President of Basketball Operations: Teamwork, experience, integrity, positivity and flexibility. Those are a lot of admirable traits, and Taylor believes Rosas fulfills all of them.

“We have an organization that’s going to have a great foundation, but we can be better,” said Taylor. “We need an organization that’s positive about the future, where we can go. Our ultimate goal of course is to win the championship, we’re in a tough position with other very outstanding teams, but we have that potential. We need someone to lead us there.”

Casson was put in charge of the POBO search by Taylor and oversaw a rigorous process that brought many members of the organization into interview and meetings with candidates. He feels that the search was effective and he’s happy with the results. Casson thanked the Rockets for their cooperation with the search and for allowing Rosas to go through such an intensive interview process while the Rockets were in the middle of an intense playoff series.

“It’s crucial that it’s not done in a vacuum, that it’s not just done in a 2.5-hour period of time and hope that you got the right person,” said Casson. “The converse was that Gersson had the opportunity to interface with people as well and find out, is this the place I want to be, is this the place I want to raise my family, is this the organization I want to take to the next level?”

Rosas understands the challenges ahead and he’s excited to get started. The Wolves are unique in that they already have a strong foundation and a star player in Karl-Anthony Towns. Now, it’s up to Rosas to maximize the team’s potential.

“This is not going to be Houston north, it’s going to be about Minnesota,” he said. “We’re going to build our own identity, we’re going to build our own organism. There are special people here, there are special players here, we’re going to use some of the same modern approaches top to bottom. I believe in the balance of basketball and analytics, that marriage goes hand-in-hand. We don’t focus one way or another, we want to make educated decisions.”

It’s important to Rosas, and to Taylor and Casson, that the Wolves are built for sustained and consistent success. It’s not about making the playoffs once; it’s about being there every year and eventually contending for a championship.

“We’re going to question the norm in everything we do,” said Rosas. “We want a sustainable model that’s going to have success. We want to consistently be a winning team that gets in the playoffs and has the foundation to compete for a championship, and to do something here that hasn’t been done, and that’s done collaboratively with great people and great partners. That’s a process we’re going to apply to this organization and to this market. It’s going to be a very fun process to see that come to life.”

One of the first major decisions Rosas will have to make is at the head coaching position. He was complimentary of both Interim Head Coach Ryan Saunders and GM Scott Layden, saying that he recognized the difficulty of taking over a team midseason. He’s excited to sit down with everyone and chart a path forward.

“As I went through this process and I evaluated the opportunity, there’s a lot here. There’s a foundation in place,” said Rosas. “This last year was a tough year but I see an organization top to bottom, roster-wise, staff-wise, there’s a lot of value here. The mandate from Glen is to build an organization that’s world-class. That’s going to be our focus. There’s a ton of resources in place to do that and I’m excited.”

Those decisions and many more are to come, but for today the mood is a celebratory one. Rosas has the opportunity of a lifetime here, and he chose Minnesota for a reason. He’s excited to move his family here (his kids made an appearance in his lap during the press conference) and he made sure to note that it wasn’t about being in charge of any basketball team that was attractive to him—he wants to be here in Minnesota.

"We want to be world class. We want to bring a championship to this city. We want to do things that have never been done." New President of Basketball Operations @GerssonRosas discusses his approach to the position with @JimPeteHoops pic.twitter.com/XWOrUu8GM0 — Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 6, 2019

Rosas’ life has in many ways been defined by basketball and he’s both grateful for the opportunity and confident in his ability to bring the Wolves into consistent contention.

“The game has blessed me so much. I’m an immigrant from Bogota, Columbia. The game has taken me to place I never would have imagined,” he said. “I’m very humbled and very blessed by those opportunities and it gives me a responsibility to give back.”