Minnesota Timberwolves to be sold to Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore
The Minnesota Timberwolves are being sold to former baseball star Alex Rodriguez, as well as billionaire Marc Lore, according to Shams Charania and The Athletic.
Glen Taylor, longtime owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is selling the team to Rodriguez and Lore. The sale is estimated to be worth roughly $1.5 billion, and Rodriguez and Lore are 50-50 partners in the purchase.
The two entered into an exclusive negotiation window last month before it ended several days ago. News broke of an agreement today. It is unknown whether the WNBA franchise Lynx are a part of the purchase.
Taylor has owned the team since 1994, and originally bought the team for $94 million. In 2000, he was banned for almost a year after signing a player to a secret contract, the penalty of which was 5 first-round draft picks.
This sale was expected, and the expectation is that Taylor will give up controlling interest in the Timberwolves before the 2023-24 season – not immediately.
The Timberwolves are going to finish among the six worst teams in the NBA this season. They have been towards the bottom of the attendance archives over the course of the past decade.
Glen Taylor has made it publicly known that he would not sell to a group that intended to relocate the franchise, although it is unknown just how enforceable that is.
The last team to relocate was in 2008 when the Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder.
The sale of the Timberwolves has to be approved by NBA owners before it is official.
Glen Taylor came close to selling the team to Daniel Straus, a Memphis Grizzlies minority owner in August 2020.
Alex Rodriguez has been seen at Timberwolves games over the course of the past month with his daughters. He has expressed interest in owning a sports franchise in the past, and this will be his first time doing so.
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Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett expressed interest in buying the Timberwolves when Taylor made it known he would be selling the team. Nothing came of it.