Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Wolves aren’t moving, plus George on Edwards

The Minnesota Timberwolves are highly unlikely to leave the Twin Cities, even in the wake of the potential change in ownership.

The Star Tribune’s Lee Schafer chimed on this issue late last week, listing several reasons why a move almost certainly isn’t in the cards.

Also, Paul George gave a post-blowout report on Anthony Edwards, and it was glowing.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are not leaving Minneapolis

We’re a little more than a week removed from the news breaking that former Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez and tech billionaire Mark Lore are working to finalize a purchase of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx franchises.

The initial reaction was all over the place, as we identified the pros and cons of a potential Rodriguez-Lore ownership group. Now, days later, we continue to receive a bit more clarity on the pending transaction.

Over at the Star Tribune, Lee Schafer listed out some details of the agreement between current owner Glen Taylor and the new group. The items of most interest are, of course, any language that could cement the Wolves’ presence in the Twin Cities for the foreseeable future.

"The language in the agreement, though, seems a little odd for a formal contract, because it asked the team owners to formally acknowledge that the Wolves are “extraordinary and unique,” and thus irreplaceable.This contract has a provision called specific performance, which means that the teams must keep playing in Target Center, no matter what. If a court later rules this out of bounds, there’s another provision that calls for $50 million to be paid instead."

Schafer goes on to quote a local attorney who says that it is in Taylor’s best interest to layer several things on top of one another that could act as legal and logistical hurdles if anyone desired to move the franchise away from Target Center.

Ultimately, as Schafer points out and Taylor affirms in the piece, the greatest line of defense will almost certainly be the NBA league office, which would much prefer to expand with additional franchises and not relocate existing teams.

In the grand scheme of things, it seems pretty unlikely that the Wolves will be moving any time soon.

Paul George on Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Anthony Edwards

It’s become commonplace for reporters to ask opposing team’s stars what their thoughts are on the play of Wolves rookie Anthony Edwards.

The responses are typically laudatory, but the words “elite” and “star” are not always thrown around.

In Sunday’s loss to the Clippers, Edwards struggled inside the arc, making only one of five two-point attempts, but he did get to the free throw line with frequency and knocked down 5-of-11 3-point attempts when the defense gave him space.

It was one of Edwards’ better all-around games of late, and Paul George took notice.

It’s great to see some of the league’s best players calling out Edwards’ potential, and hopefully, the quotes only serve to encourage the Wolves rookie to keep reaching for his ceiling — on both ends of the floor.