PROMOTION FOR KNICK EXECUTIVE
Rosas gets title changed to senior VP of basketball ops
The Knicks gave Gersson Rosas a title more befitting his role.
Rosas, the longtime NBA executive, was promoted to Senior VP of Basketball Operations, a source confirmed Monday. The 45-year-old was originally hired as an advisor to the front office in February of 2022, but rival executives and agents pegged Rosas an active participant in subsequent Knicks negotiations — including as a point man in trade talks involving Donovan Mitchell last year.
When GM Scott Perry’s contract wasn’t renewed in the summer, the belief was Rosas would be awarded a higher title. Now he’s third on the organizational depth chart under team president Leon Rose and executive VP William Wesley.
Rosas, a CAA client, also has a history with Tom Thibodeau as a former executive with the Rockets, where both held roles simultaneously in the 2000s.
Coincidentally, Rosas replaced Thibodeau as team president of the Timberwolves in 2019. Rosas’s biggest moves in Minnesota included drafting Anthony Edwards first overall (a hit) and trading Andrew Wiggins for D’Angelo Russell (a miss). He was fired by Minnesota after about two years amid reported internal concerns, including a “consensual romantic relationship between Rosas and a team employee,” according to ESPN. Rosas wasn’t shy about that relationship after both he and the woman left the organization, with the couple seen together publicly at NBA events, including Summer League last year.
Rosas, a Colombian immigrant, became the NBA’s first Latino GM when he was hired by the Mavericks in 2013. He was also the first Latino to run an NBA front office with the Timberwolves gig.
The bulk of Rosas’s NBA work was under Daryl Morey in Houston, where they acquired James Harden and helped elevate the franchise to championship contender.
The Knicks are inching toward that status. They’re coming off a quiet offseason with just two notable moves (signing Donte DiVincenzo and trading Obi Toppin), but remain poised for activity with significant draft capital over the next seven years. It makes them a top candidate for the next disgruntled star, with either Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo as the dream acquisitions.
On New York’s immediate to-do list is an extension for Immanuel Quickley, who’d become a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t sign one by late October, and figuring out the best course for Evan Fournier, who is under contract but has made clear he doesn’t want to waste another season on the bench.
Rosas’s promotion was first reported by ESPN.