Timberwolves President Gersson Rosas hasn't shied away from questions regarding Andrew Wiggins' inconsistent play. And as he made the media rounds at his first Minnesota State Fair on Thursday, almost every outlet Rosas stopped by asked him how he planned to unlock the potential Wiggins has, potential he doesn't show on a nightly basis.
"Andrew in particular with his talent and physical abilities, the potential he's shows, we've got to get that on a more consistent basis," Rosas said at the Star Tribune stage. "He's focused on it as well. In order for us to have the success we want to have, he's got to be a main contributor. He understands that, we understand that."
To Rosas, some factors that contribute to this inconsistency has been out of Wiggins' control, like the number of coaches he has had during his young career. Rosas is hopeful having Ryan Saunders as his head coach, along with the changes the Wolves are making in terms of player development, will remove that uncertainty from the equation.
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"To be fair to him, he needs some continuity in terms of coaching, philosophy, strategy and style of play," Rosas said. "We think he's going to be one of the better beneficiaries of this style of play. His physical tools, talent and skill. We do feel there's a lot of upside for him. He's worked very hard this summer. He's been committed to everything that we've done."
Wiggins and the rest of the Wolves open camp on October 1.
Not done signing?
Rosas said the Wolves may not be done adding to the roster, and it's possible the Wolves may sign more than 15 guaranteed contracts to their roster, meaning they would have to trade or buyout a deal when making final roster decisions before the regular season.
They would do that, he said, in the name of competition.
"If we have to eat a contract, we'll eat a contract," Rosas said. "But we want to create depth, competitiveness in camp and sometimes you end up eating or trading a contract you need to. At the end of the day you want to emphasize competition and a guy beats another guy out, we have the flexibility to do that."
Covington, Teague on track
Rosas said two injured Wolves from last season, Robert Covington and Jeff Teague, are on track to begin training camp without restriction. Covington had an arthoscopic procedure done in April as he was recovering from a right knee bone bruise that caused him to miss 47 games last season. Teague had a left ankle debridement procedure in April that was meant to clean up fragments or other pain-causing issues.
