Timberwolves' New GM Is The Guy Who Invented The Online NBA Trade Machine

The Timberwolves made headlines on Wednesday when they fired general manager Gersson Rosas and promoted Sachin Gupta to fill his role. We now know, according to ESPN, that Gupta was the creator of the popular ESPN.com widget, "NBA Trade Machine."

Gupta worked in the ESPN analytics department before landing a role in the Timberwolves front office. Gupta served as vice president of basketball operations before receiving the promotion.

NBA Trade Machine allows fans to be a GM in a sense and make mock trades that are directly tied to each team's salary cap. For example, if a Lakers fan tries to trade Wesley Matthews for Kyrie Irving and James Harden, the machine will say that you must shed $79 million of salary for the trade to work.

It's one of the best features you'll find on ESPN's website and a useful tool for fans to use. Perhaps general managers use it too, as it is always up to date on the cap situation of each team.

Will Gupta use his own creation for Minnesota? He might need to, as the organization has been known to make questionable trades, such as unloading Juancho Hernangomez and Jarrett Culver for Patrick Beverley last month.

The organization certainly needs some help to get back into the playoffs and before star center Karl-Anthony Towns decides it's time to look elsewhere. Towns did not appear happy about these front office moves, according to a tweet he posted when Gupta was hired.