Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves announced the promotion of Emmanuel “Manny” Rohan to Assistant General Manager and announced that Assistant General Manager Gianluca Pascucci will have the added responsibilities of General Manager of the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s NBA G League affiliate. The team also added several basketball operations staff members, naming Saagar Sarin Personnel Scouting Coordinator, Bill Burgos Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Erin Sierer Assistant Athletic Trainer, Peter Warden Equipment Manager and Cory McCain Assistant Equipment Manager.
“Manny has proven to be an invaluable asset for our basketball operations department and is extremely deserving of this promotion,” said Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas.
“Gianluca’s global basketball perspective and his experience with developmental programs will be a big asset as we fully maximize our relationship with the Iowa Wolves,” Rosas said.
“In Saagar, Bill, Erin, Peter and Cory, we have added five diverse and talented people to complement our existing staff,” Rosas said. “Each of them offers unique experience and a skillset that will help us become a more progressive and well-rounded staff as we aim to maximize our players’ potential on and off the floor.”
Rohan is entering his 10th season with the Timberwolves. Prior to his promotion, Rohan was director of basketball administration since 2016 where he handled matters relating to the salary cap and team administration. He began his Timberwolves career as a basketball operations intern in 2010 and was a basketball operations assistant for two seasons (2011-13). He was promoted to manager of basketball administration prior to the 2013-14 season.
Pascucci was hired by the Timberwolves as assistant general manager on May 30, 2019. In addition to his GM duties with Iowa, Pacucci leads the Timberwolves’ pro personnel efforts at all levels, including the NBA, G League and international, and is fully involved with all player personnel matters.
Sarin spent last season with the Houston Rockets as video coordinator and player personnel assistant. Prior to that he held positions with the Rockets as assistant video coordinator and basketball operations and scouting intern. Saagar has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern California and served as a graduate assistant and head manager for the men’s basketball team while at USC.
Burgos was head strength & conditioning coach for the Orlando Magic from 2013-2018 and held the same job with the New York Knicks from 2011-13. He began his career in the NBA as strength & conditioning coordinator for the Magic from 2009-11. Burgos was President and Founder of Burgos Consulting Group LLC, providing services as a human performance and player care consultant from 2009-19. He is currently an adjunct professor at Austin Peay University, teaching online courses in the fields of sports science, strength and conditioning and sports medicine. Burgos served a total of 13 years in the Army and Air Force.
Sierer was lead physical therapist/assistant athletic trainer for the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 season. She was a tactical physical therapist/athletic trainer for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command from 2018-2019, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations command from 2013 to 2016. From 2016-18, Sierer served as a physical therapist/assistant athletic trainer for all Olympic sports at Rutgers University.
Warden spent 14 seasons with the Texas A&M men’s basketball program, including the past four seasons as assistant athletic director working primarily in internal operations. He spent five seasons as student manager, including two years as head manager, prior to serving the 2006-07 season as director of operations. Warden also was in basketball operations with the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program for two seasons. He served as an administrator for three foreign summer tours with Athletes in Action. AIA toured Australia in 2007 and played in the William Jones Cup in Taiwan in 2006 and toured East Asia in 2005.
McCain comes to the Wolves from Southern University where he was assistant director of academic services during the 2018-19 academic year. Prior to that, he spent time as athletic facilities assistant at Texas A&M during the 2017-18 academic year. From 2015-17, McCain was assistant to the athletic director and coordinator of student-athlete academic support services at Eureka College. He also was a secondary mathematics teacher for three years for Teach for America.