How the Minnesota Timberwolves could take a leap in team value rankings

The Minnesota Timberwolves have never been one of the league’s most valuable franchises, but they could improve their standing in the NBA in the near future.

Ever since coming into the league in 1990, the Minnesota Timberwolves have remained near the bottom of the league in team revenue.

With the combination of Minnesota being primarily a hockey state and the region not having much basketball history since the Lakers left in 1960, professional basketball was always going to be a tough sell in Minneapolis.

Also, Glen Taylor is not among the league’s richest owners with a net worth of $2.8 billion, so he’s been reluctant to spend big on a Timberwolves team that hasn’t experienced a ton of success outside of Kevin Garnett‘s prime.

With all that being said, Forbes estimates the Minnesota Timberwolves’ team value at $1.375 billion, which puts them slightly ahead of the Pelicans and Grizzlies who find themselves at the bottom of the list.

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With the rapid financial growth of the NBA, the Wolves saw a $75 million increase over last year’s numbers.

However, they were passed up by the Charlotte Hornets this year after after being tied on the 2019 list as Charlotte earned a $200 million increase over last year’s value.

Minnesota has an opportunity to climb the list due to a couple of factors:

1. They have a much more exciting team with the addition of D’Angelo Russell, which should help ticket sales increase again after a subpar season.
2. They recently made over $100 million worth of renovations to the Target Center. That will increase the revenue they make from owning the arena, which accounts for 10% of the team’s revenue.

The Timberwolves are never going to be at the top of the list alongside the Knicks, Lakers, and Warriors. But under a new regime led by Gersson Rosas and Ryan Saunders with a dynamic duo of young players in Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota could escape the bottom of this list over the next few years.

If the team generates more revenue, they would be more willing to go into the luxury tax to improve their roster. Hopefully that happens and Glen Taylor is willing to write the checks necessary to build a winner in Minneapolis.