Just when NBA fans thought that the month prior to the start of the regular season was going to be a dry point for the NBA news cycle, in came several intriguing stories this past week. Perhaps the spiciest is Ben Simmons' ongoing trade saga and stand off with the Philadelphia 76ers. Another is the surprise firing of Minnesota Timberwolves president Gersson Rosas a couple of days ago.

Minnesota fired Rosas due to a myriad of reasons, some of which included performance-related issues, as reports claimed he ran a “dysfunctional” front office. In addition, Rosas' relationship with Sachin Gupta, whom the Timberwolves promoted to interim head of basketball operations, reportedly began to grow sour. This front office shake-up couldn't have come at a worse time for Minnesota, as they are currently in pursuit of Sixers star Ben Simmons.

New Timberwolves owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are reportedly looking to go big in their search for a top executive to oversee the team's basketball operations and hopefully, become the catalyst in eventually landing Ben Simmons. With that said, here are the three best candidates for the next Timberwolves president.

Timberwolves candidates:

1. Sachin Gupta

Well, who else better to hire for president than the man who is technically already in the position? Sachin Gupta has been with the Timberwolves since May 2019 when he was hired as EVP of Basketball Operations. Instilling him permanently as the team's new president makes sense since Gupta has already been involved in shaping up their current roster. Giving him the reigns also allows him to build on what he will do as he takes the interim role.

Though he has never had experience as the lead front office man, he has gone through several other posts throughout his executive career. The Indian-American's prior gig before going to the Timberwolves was a position as assistant general manager with the Detroit Pistons in 2018-19. Before that, he served as VP of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers from 2014 to 2016. Gupta began as an advisor for Daryl Morey with the Houston Rockets from 2006 to 2013.

Gupta was also in the running for the Sacramento Kings' opening back in 2020. However, the Kings went in another direction. Gupta also reportedly looked headed to the Houston Rockets this past summer. Apparently, Rosas blocked the move, which resulted in the falling out of their relationship.

Of course, Gupta's interim tag gives the Timberwolves a chance to see if he is up to the task and is a viable mainstay for the permanent role. Likewise, this should serve as Gupta's main audition for the top job.

2. Elton Brand

Timberwolves owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are reportedly fond of current Sixers general manager Elton Brand. There is good reason why the two see Brand as a potential target. The former NBA All-Star definitely has the resume to back it up.

Brand has been with the Sixers front office since retiring as a player in 2016. He began as a player development consultant in 2016, then became the general manager of the Sixers G-League affiliate in 2016. He then landed the general manager job in 2018 and has served that role since.

The Timberwolves might be aware that Brand has made several good moves as Sixers GM, including trading for Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris during the 2018-19 season. However, he has also made some questionable decisions, particularly the succeeding summer when he let Butler go, and gave Al Horford and Tobias Harris incredibly sizable deals that outweigh their value.

Nonetheless, despite his previous slip-ups, being a former player and a recently retired one at that is still one of Brand's major advantages. Having played 17 years in the NBA, the 42-year old knows how players think and this should play a huge role in relating with them.

Despite still being part of Philly's front office, the lead executive role with the Timberwolves should be a massive upgrade for Brand's career. If the opportunity presents itself, it's going to be tough to turn this down.

3. Danny Ainge

Another name the Timberwolves should consider is former Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge. The 62-year old did announce that he stepped down as the lead executive for the Celtics to retire. But perhaps some lure from a star-studded ownership group could intrigue him to continue on with his career. Likewise, Minnesota's current situation with three young studs in Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, and Anthony Edwards could be enough to convince him to take the job.

The player-turned-executive speaks for itself. Trader Danny as he's known around the NBA won executive of the year in 2008. This is the same year the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship after Ainge orchestrated the franchise-changing moves to bring in Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett and former Milwaukee Bucks sharpshooter Ray Allen to form a Big Three with Paul Pierce.

Ainge was also responsible for pulling off one of the most lop-sided deals in recent memory when he traded Garnett and Pierce, both of whom were aging at the time, to the Brooklyn Nets for three future first-round picks and a pick swap in 2017. Two of those picks ended up becoming Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, two of Boston's franchise cornerstones today.

If the Timberwolves are able to land Ainge and bring his expertise and experience to lead their front office, their fortunes may finally turn for the better.