Minnesota Timberwolves: Taylor, potential new owner in ‘advanced discussions’

The Minnesota Timberwolves might be about to be sold to a former Memphis Grizzlies owner.

After more than a month with only a trickle of news on the ownership front, the Minnesota Timberwolves just might be sold in short order.

While Wolves fans continue to bask in last week’s victory at the NBA Draft Lottery, the other big news story from the offseason is back: yes, the team is on the market, and yes, a frontrunner has emerged from the murky waters of suitors.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Taylor, potential new owner in ‘advanced discussions’

The last news we received about the potential sale of the franchise was that the city would only be owed $50 million in compensation from any new owner that wanted to relocate the franchise, but that current owner Glen Taylor was going to do everything he could to ensure that the Wolves stayed in Minneapolis.

Now, the report from The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania (subscription required) is not only is there a suitor who is well down the path of acquiring the Minnesota Timberwolves, but that potential buyer has been in an exclusive negotiating window with Taylor for the better part of the past few weeks.

That group is led by former Memphis Grizzlies minority owner Daniel E. Straus, who sold his stake in the Grizzlies a couple of years ago.

While the exclusive negotiating agreement ended last week, Straus and his group toured the facilities and discussed financials with Taylor two weeks ago, and the two sides are reportedly still engaged in talks.

According to The Athletic, Kevin Garnett is not involved in this group, and there isn’t much movement on any other front, whether that be Garnett’s potential interest or interest from any of the other groups that were rumored to be preparing bids.

The latest potential group rumored to be interested was being led by former NBA wing Arron Afflalo, and that news broke nearly a month ago.

Back when the story first came out in late July, Garnett was letting everyone know that he was involved in a group preparing a bid. There was also the possibility of involvement from the Wilf family, the longtime owners of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, although that rumor died out relatively quickly.

As the ownership news continued to trickle in, we published a comprehensive summary of the early rumors surrounding a potential sale. If you missed anything, be sure to check that out to get yourself caught up.

The article from Charania and Krawczynski is careful to point out that nothing is imminent and there are still “issues to resolve” before anything can be officially agreed upon. That said, this is a sudden development after several weeks of relative silence on the ownership front.