The Minnesota Timberwolves may have exited the playoffs in disappointing fashion after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2024 Western Conference Finals, but it's clear that they are here to stay as one of the league's best teams. However, contending for a championship comes with a price. The Timberwolves will be above the second luxury tax apron entering next season without even making any moves as the huge contracts of Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jaden McDaniels will be kicking in.

Nonetheless, the Timberwolves' ownership led by longtime governor Glen Taylor is reportedly willing to pay the luxury tax to keep the team's core intact, as reported by Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic. And to further add music to Timberwolves fans' ears, the group of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, who are in the middle of disputing their purchase of the franchise, are also willing to dig deep into their pockets to keep the team in title contention.

While the Timberwolves' ownership situation is as messy as it can get, it's a good sign that the team's current owner and the prospective duo that would take over the team in the event of a dispute settlement are not afraid to spend what it takes to keep together what is clearly a talented core.

Timberwolves' ownership situation, abridged

Glen Taylor isn't exactly a popular figure in Minnesota. In fact, since taking over the team in 1994, the Timberwolves have made a slew of bad decisions under Taylor's watch. The best player in franchise history, Kevin Garnett, went as far as to say that Taylor did not know “s**t” about basketball.

The Timberwolves failed to build a proper contending team around Garnett, and after the 2004 NBA playoffs, the team proceeded to miss the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons. Thus, when Taylor announced that he had agreed to sell 80 percent of team shares to a group led by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, there was celebration among Timberwolves fans.

Taylor sold the team at a valuation of $1.5 billion, but the purchase structure meant that the payment of around $1.2 billion will arrive over the course of three payments. The first payment for 20 percent was scheduled in 2021, the next one was for 20 percent to be paid in 2023, and the final payment, which was worth 40 percent of the franchise, was to be paid in 2024.

Glen Taylor's group, however, used a clause that prevented Rodriguez and Lore from finalizing their purchase of the Timberwolves franchise. Taylor said that the deal had expired and that the Timberwolves and its affiliate WNBA franchise (Minnesota Lynx) were no longer for sale after the 90-day closing period following an exercise notice passed.

Moreover, Taylor was concerned that the prospective owners coming in would slash costs, greatly affecting the quality of the product the Timberwolves can put out on the floor.

However, Rodriguez and Lore contended that they fulfilled their end of the bargain; they even called Taylor out for having “seller's remorse” after the Timberwolves' franchise valuation skyrocketed by around $1.3 billion as of December 2023.

It's unclear what truly happened behind the scenes and why Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore aren't the majority stakeholders of the Timberwolves franchise at the moment after things appeared to be going smoothly for the past three years. Nevertheless, Rodriguez still showed his support for the Timberwolves in the 2024 NBA playoffs, watching games live while engaging with the likes of Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Splashing the cash down in the Twin Cities

The Timberwolves' active roster payroll for the 2024-25 season currently ranks fourth in the association, only behind the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, and Boston Celtics. At a projected $192 million, the Timberwolves will already be $3 million over the second luxury tax apron before making any moves.

They currently have five open roster spots, although two of those will be filled with the two draft picks they will have come June, barring a trade on draft night. Kyle Anderson, a major rotation piece, will be a free agent, while backup guards Monte Morris and Jordan McLaughlin are also headed for free agency.

Given the restrictions imposed by being in the second luxury tax apron, the Timberwolves will be very limited in the moves they can make this offseason. Basically, they are locked into the roster they have, unless they find a blockbuster trade for Karl-Anthony Towns and his monster contract.

Nonetheless, this was a team that won 56 games last season and dethroned the reigning champion Denver Nuggets. They are not too far away from competing for a title, which is why splashing the cash on this roster appears to be worth the risk.