Minnesota Timberwolves minority owner Meyer Orbach filed a lawsuit against majority owner Glen Taylor, alleging that Taylor is in breach of contract because Orbach hasn't had the opportunity to sell his 17% stake in the franchise before the $1.5 billion sale to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore.
While it doesn't appear this lawsuit will ultimately nuke the deal, it is a snag in the negotiations as the parties work toward completing the deal. Plus, the lawsuit brought to light the juicy revelation that there's no language in the sale contract that prevents the Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx from relocating to another market.
Taylor has consistently insisted the teams would remain in Minnesota. The longtime owner released a new statement Thursday in response to this revelation.
Via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic:
âI stand by my prior statements and commitment to keeping the Timberwolves and Lynx in Minnesota,â Taylor said.
It seems this detail was included to put pressure on Taylor to work things out with Orbach, who's trying to invoke his Orbit group's âtag-along rightsâ in an attempt to give Rodriguez and Lore the ability to purchase his shares. If they don't want them, Taylor would have to purchase them before the deal goes through. Orbach alleges Taylor has ignored the attempts to exercise the rights.
There's a unique setup to this deal in place that has Rodriguez and Lore not taking over as majority partners until 2023 in order to ease the transition, but Orbach doesn't think this should matter when it comes to his rights. So, he's clearly trying to make things uncomfortable for Taylor.
Still, while Taylor may have made a mistake with his public declarations about staying in Minnesota before not including language in the contract about it, it appears there's currently no plan to relocate:
The letter of intent signed by Rodriguez and Lore prior to the beginning of negotiations with Taylor did include a commitment to remain in Minnesota, sources said. But that document is not legally binding, and that language did not transfer to the official agreement, according to Orbachâs lawsuit. That said, sources on all sides of these negotiations have told The Athletic that Lore and Rodriguez are committed to the Twin Cities market and that there have never been any discussions about moving the teams.
This hasn't exactly been a smooth process for Taylor, but this Timberwolves and Lynx sale will go through at some point.
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