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After days, months, and even years of waiting, Glen Taylor has officially agreed to sell both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx:
Former MLB star Alex Rodriguez and tech entrepreneur Marc Lore have reached agreement to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves from Glen Taylor for $1.5 billion, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 13, 2021
The worst kept secret in the league is finally official, as former MLB star Alex Rodriguez and tech entrepreneur Marc Lore have reached an agreement to purchase the team(s) for $1.5 billion dollars.
As many of you know, it was a little over a month ago that news first broke about A-Rod and Lore approaching Glen to buy both franchises, and soon after that it was reported that the two sides had agreed to a 30-day exclusive negotiating window. Many fans (myself included) scoffed at this, primarily because it wasn’t the first time Glen agreed to one of these, and in my skeptical opinion, it probably wouldn’t be the last.
Just this past Tuesday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst confirmed that the exclusive negotiating window had indeed closed, but people close to both sides of the deal continued to say that an agreement was near the finish line. However, once the window had indeed opened, our friend Marc Stein reported that another former bidder — this time Aaron Afflalo — was trying to throw his hat back into the ring to purchase the teams:
NBA veteran Arron Afflalo, who is heading an ownership group that has pursued the Minnesota Timberwolves for 10 months, told @NYTSports he plans to launch a renewed purchase bid now that Glen Taylor's exclusive negotiating window with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez has expired.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 11, 2021
On top of ALL of that, there was small rumblings recently that soon-to-be Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett was readying himself for another bid, although that may have simply been a product of the Internet conjuring up news once it appeared like the A-Rod deal was potentially on life support.
Regardless, this latest news from Shams brings closure (at least I think?) to a story that dates back many, many years. As I’ve written before, it was no secret that Glen Taylor (who just turned 80 years old in April) was finally serious about unloading his two professional sports franchises, but it was going to take the right group to get Glen to finally cross the finish line.
Are Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore the “right group” here? Only time will tell, but for an eternal optimist like myself, it feels like the mild momentum of the Timberwolves finishing the season strong can now be paired with the increased optimism of new ownership (eventually) taking off my two favorite franchises.
Both sides never slowed down on negotiations even after the exclusivity expired. Taylor, Rodriguez and Lore hit it off from the start and that carried through to the end of these negotiations.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) May 13, 2021
We’ll continue to monitor this story here at Canis Hoopus as it unfolds over the summer, but for now I’d like to personally welcome our two new Canis community members in Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore! See you guys on our Sunday Canis Zoomus call!