The Minnesota Timberwolves are facing battles on two fronts, both on and off the court. On one end, the Wolves' playoffs run rolled on by eliminating defending champion Denver Nuggets in the second round. However, incumbent owner Glen Taylor is facing a court battle against prospective owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore for trying to back out of a deal to sell the team, now led by energetic guard Anthony Edwards.
The winner of the court battle over the Timberwolves ownership only stands to gain a win that's tantamount to defeat, Zach Lowe and Kevin Pelton said on The Lowe Post podcast. This is particularly on the back of a top-heavy contracts for the likes of Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns that would send the team over the salary cap threshold.
“I got…good news and bad news for whoever wins this ridiculous fight for ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves…you are in financial jail. Like you have to keep this team together. They are obviously too good and I'm sorry you're just going to have to pay a lot of luxury tax. Too bad,” Lowe said, describing the ownership dispute as “embarrassing.”
Timberwolves stars Anthony Edwards, Karl Anthony-Towns set for huge payday
Glen Taylor backed out of the deal to sell the Timberwolves to the duo of Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, a previous report said, partly due to the pair submitting financial projections that would require the team to cut salaries in the 2024-25 season. The projections would result in total salaries of $171 million, below the $172 million cap line, which would turn from the team paying a $25 million luxury tax to receiving an approximately $6.5 million tax distribution.
According to Zach Lowe, once the Rodriguez-Lore partnership takes over the Timberwolves ownership, they stand to pay Anthony Edwards his approximately $204.5 million deal up to the 2028-29 season, Karl Anthony-Towns his $221.1 million up to the 2027-28 season, and Rudy Gobert up to $205.0 million through his player option in 2025-26. Jaden McDaniels is also on the books for $131.0 million through 2029.
Timberwolves' messy ownership battle may spill over to trophy awarding
Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore continue to be present at the Timberwolves' playoffs games at the Target Center in Minneapolis, as if they still plan to own the team, despite their bitter feud with Glen Taylor. This sparked an interesting exchange between Zach Lowe and Kevin Pelton as to who stands to receive and keep the trophies, in the event that the Timberwolves go on to win both the Western Conference and NBA titles.
“[I]f the Timberwolves do win the championship, do A-Rod and Marc Lore try to like jump the stage? Because I assume it's in the in the NBA Constitution that the trophy is handed to the governor of the team, who would still be Glen Taylor,” Pelton said.
“No, you know who they should hand it to? In that case, none of you all get to have the trophy,” Lowe replied. “Forget the owners, give [the trophy] to Crunch [the Timberwolves mascot] or bring out [Kevin Garnett] or somebody like that.”
The Timberwolves playoffs run continue when they host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday, May 22, at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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