The brief tenure of Gersson Rosas in the Dallas Mavericks' front office is over.
The Mavericks and Rosas parted company Tuesday, On the eve of Dallas' season opener against the Atlanta Hawks and slightly more than three months after Rosas was hired away from the Houston Rockets' front office to serve as Dallas' new general manager.
Sources briefed on the situation told ESPN.com that the abrupt parting was triggered by the fact that Rosas -- hired by the Mavericks to work in support of longtime president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson -- wanted a greater share of control over Dallas' basketball operations. Concerns about how Rosas would fit into the Mavericks' front-office structure and accept a supplementary role to Nelson, sources said, surfaced almost immediately after Rosas' arrival in late July.
"I made the personal decision to resign as general manager of the Dallas Mavericks after determining that the position was not the best fit for me at this point in my career," Rosas said in a statement released by the team after ESPN.com reported his exit.
"The decision was made solely by me," Rosas continued, "as I firmly believe this change is in my best interest.
"Mark Cuban asked me to reconsider my decision, but graciously accepted my decision and we part as friends. I would like to thank Mark and the Dallas Mavericks for the opportunity."
The intent when the Mavericks hired Rosas late in free agency was to inject a new voice and fresh ideas in terms of scouting, analytics and recruitment to a front-office team spearheaded by Nelson and longtime executive Keith Grant, whose association with the franchise dates to Dallas' inaugural NBA season in 1980-81.
The reality in Dallas is that final say on all matters has always belonged to Cuban, one of the league's more active owners. But Cuban has grown very close to Nelson after well over a decade together and spelled out clearly in various interviews after hiring Rosas that Nelson would remain his top advisor and right-hand man.
Rosas, 35, worked his way from an intern to executive vice president of basketball operations in Houston and was one of three members of the Rockets' front office to be poached by other teams during the offseason, following the departures of Sam Hinkie to Philadelphia and Arturas Karnisovas to Denver.
A native of Colombia, Rosas was initially targeted by the Mavericks to bolster their pro and college scouting efforts after working extensively with the Rockets' successful D-League franchise.
