The Timberwolves ownership situation is a swirling debacle of drama

Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

This is such a mess.

Any hopes for Timberwolves fans to be rescued from Glen Taylor’s ownership have now been squashed. Taylor announced on Thursday that the deadline passed for Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore to become majority owner of the Wolves and Lynx, pulling the team off the market and ensuring it remained under Taylor’s control.

The following statement was posted on the team’s site.

Glen Taylor, Chairman of Taylor Sports Group, Inc., the general partner of Minnesota Timberwolves Basketball Limited Partnership (“Timberwolves and Lynx”), this morning confirmed the expiration of the option of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez to acquire controlling interest in the Timberwolves and Lynx.

Under terms of the purchase agreement, the closing was required to occur within 90 days following the exercise notice issued by Lore and Rodriguez. That 90-day period expired on March 27, 2024.

Under certain circumstances, the buyer could have been entitled to a limited extension. However, those circumstances did not occur.

“I will continue to work with Marc, Alex and the rest of the ownership group to ensure our teams have the necessary resources to compete at the highest levels on and off the court,” said Taylor. “The Timberwolves and Lynx are no longer for sale.”

Rodriguez and Lore will remain minority owners of the basketball teams, but this effectively ends any chance of them taking over control — unless this decision is challenged and sent to court. The whole situation is raising questions about Taylor’s motives, and the hard-lined wording of the announcement is leading to speculation.

How did the Rodriguez/Lore deal come about?

Rodriguez and Lore entered an agreement In April of 2021 to purchase 80 percent of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, which would make them majority owners. The deal was priced at $1.5B — giving the teams a valuation of $1.8B.

The sale would roll out over the course of several years, with Rodriguez and Lore taking ownership of 20 percent in 2021, another 20 percent in 2023, and the final 40 percent to be purchased at the end of December 2023, with a 90-day clock beginning to make the final payment.

Taylor asserts that the March 27 deadline to make the final payment passed, and no extension would be given to Rodriguez and Lore. It now means that Taylor owns 60 percent of the team, with Rodriguez and Lore locked at 40 percent.

Did they have the money to make it happen?

Not directly, but yes. Rodriguez and Lore had secured funding from investment groups to have the funds to make the purchase. Essentially it was believed this deal was done, but that didn’t come to pass.

A souring relationship between the owners during the transition period likely played a role in not being flexible with the final payment deadline.

Why would Taylor back out now?

Money. It doesn’t take a genius to realize there was massive seller’s remorse going on in Taylor’s camp. He agreed to take payments over time on a $1.8B valuation from 2021. In fact, that’s the exact term Rodriguez and Lore used in their response to the rescinded sale announcement.

A lot has changed over the three years since that agreement occurred. Anthony Edwards has become of the NBA’s brightest young stars, and the Wolves are soaring with a 50-22 record in 2023-24, putting them on pace for their best season since the 2003-04 Wolves led by Kevin Garnett.

A valuation by Forbes currently has the Timberwolves worth $2.5B, and climbing. In addition to the raw increase in value, the NBA is currently mulling over expansion, which would lead to a significant revenue split among current owners.

Essentially there is absolutely no reason for Taylor to give Rodriguez and Lore a break on the deadline for this deal, especially when it means losing 40 percent of an undervalued asset.

The real loser here are the fans

Any bickering over deadlines and billions of dollars is immaterial for fans. Taylor has routinely ranked as one of the NBA’s worst owners, controlling a team that has floundered in mediocrity for much of its existence, and failed to capitalize on fleeting success when it emerged.

Taylor is also charged with two colossal mistakes: Firstly, the secret contract with Joe Smith in 1999-2000 which led to the Timberwolves salary cap scandal. This was a handshake deal to underpay Smith, with the promise of a max-level deal in the future — circumventing the salary cap. This led to Minnesota being stripped of five first round picks, and losing Smith when his contract was voided.

The second was a long-standing beef between Kevin Garnett and Taylor, which Flip Saunders was the only buffer for. That resulted in Garnett leaving the Timberwolves, while also being offered a minority ownership stake in the team — before Taylor pulled the rug on that too, causing a massive unrepaired rift between the team and its greatest player of all time.

This was the chance for fans to be rid of Taylor for good, and now he’s sticking around even longer. With the team value continuing to rise it’s unclear if they’ll ever be rid Taylor, and on the eve of the vibes finally getting better with the team — they’re now entering an era where Karl-Anthony Towns and Ant will be due huge extensions, with a bad owner at the helm.

There are no plans to find another owner, according to Taylor.

This is a horrible timeline for fans in Minnesota.