When Will the Timberwolves Ownership War End? Put it on Your Christmas List…

There are a few Minnesota Timberwolves players currently competing in Paris at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Anthony Edwards is racking up minutes for Team USA, Rudy Gobert is still a staple down low for France and Nickeil Alexander-Walker is an emerging star for Canada.

But while they stay busy, Timberwolves owners — specifically majority stakeholder, Glen Taylor, vs minority partner Marc Lore, with A-Rod (a much smaller stock percentage) cheering from his sideline — continue to push off scheduled arbitration hearings that will eventually decide the future of the organization.

All we want for Christmas is a Minnesota Timberwolves ownership decision?

According to Darren Wolfson (SKOR North, KSTP) , the two sides will not sit down in front of arbiters until November. Then, it’s a 30-day wait for a decision. That means, we won’t know until AT LEAST December, more likely January, who wins the Minnesota Timberwolves ownership war.

“It’s about getting the three arbiters, the judges, matching up their schedule with Lore, with Rodriguez, with Taylor. Somehow, we couldn’t come up with a date in August, September, October, all the way until November. Then, it’ll be 30 days or so until a decision is made.

So these three judges will hear both sides, then they have up to 30 days to make a decision. So, I mean, we’re looking at, like, January. Because let’s say Mark and Alex win the arbitration hearing, then the Board of Governors probably wouldn’t get to [the approval vote] until after Christmas so we very much are looking like middle of the season for final determination on who the majority owner is”

Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd (SKOR North)

Why are we delaying this time?

Who is to blame for this most recent delay? Well, Wolfson admits that he is getting his information from the Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez side of the divorce aisle, but that he’s being told it’s very much Glen Taylor pushing this delayed agenda.

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He doesn’t exactly specify what Taylor’s motive would be, but A-Rod and Lore believe this was his plan from the very beginning. To push this thing out as long as possible.

“I texted somebody close to the Lore, Rodriguez Camp. They said, ‘hey, you know, whatever, this very much pro Glen, though’. Glen wanted to push this out, the Glen Taylor side, as far as possible.”

“I can just tell you, in this moment, now that we have news of a November arbitration hearing, that this is very much what Glen was hoping to accomplish. Push this thing out, my understanding, as far as possible.”

Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd (SKOR North)

So it’s Glen Taylor who is trying to push back and delay these arbitration hearings as long as possible. Why? That’s the unanswered question. If I had guess, there are a couple of reasons that come to mind.

Before we get to those, let’s remember that the only reason the Timberwolves are still in Minnesota is because of Glen Taylor. He saved them back in 1994 and he has refused to let them leave ever since. We may hate him, much of the time, and he deserves most of that criticism. But that backdrop of history is still important to keep in mind.

Is Glen Taylor waiting Lore and A-Rod out?

Taylor could be stalling this process as a test of A-Rod and Lore’s patience. Will they eventually get bored/annoyed enough that they’ll take a large buyout, and go away? It’s been reported that, no matter who wins in the end, the other side is expected to be bought out.

Relations between the feuding Timberwolves owners have gotten too toxic to recover from. If Glen delays this thing long enough, could Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez decide, ‘F*** it, this isn’t worth it’? If so, they could probably get close to double what they’ve paid in so far, which is $600+ million. It’s possible that’s the longtime owner’s line of thinking.

With that said, there are plenty of other theoretical motives that make sense, too. Maybe Taylor doesn’t plan to win this ownership war in the long run. It wouldn’t surprise me if Glen is just holding onto the ownership rope as long as possible. This could be his last chance to win an NBA Championship, before retiring into the sunset.

Related: Congratulations Glen Taylor, You are the Richest Person in Minnesota

Maybe Glen is just holding onto his Timberwolves ownership as long as possible…

He sees how good the Minnesota Timberwolves are, and we all know how much Glen dreams about holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy, on stage, with confetti still falling, after a Wolves NBA Finals victory. He would roll over in his grave if they won it all, right after he (essentially) gave away ownership.

If the Timberwolves are going to be the team that lifts the Minnesota sports curse, you’re damn right Taylor wants to be a part of that history. We also know that Glen Taylor has taken heat from longtime minority investors who do not believe that A-Rod/Lore’s original purchase price was requisite for what the organization is/was worth.

Related: Could Becky Taylor be the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Next Majority Owner?

So whether the Wolves win a chip or not, Glen could delay, delay, delay, then ask Lore and A-Rod to settle for more than what they bought the organization for, being it’s now worth more than double that $1.5 billion price tag.

Then again, I could be completely wrong on both of the above hypotheses. We know Glen’s wife, Becky, has a large say in all organizational operations right now. His health isn’t all that great, so it’s difficult to gauge exactly who is making decisions on that front, which makes motives appear even more murky.

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