As part of a failed process to assume majority ownership, Minnesota Timberwolves minority partners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez submitted financial projections forecasting a sizable retreat in roster payroll that majority owner Glen Taylor believed would jeopardize the franchise’s ability to compete for a championship, sources told ESPN.
In documents shared with Taylor, the NBA and The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, Lore and Rodriguez rendered a budget projection as potential majority owners that would’ve lowered the Timberwolves’ payroll to $171 million beginning next season — below the projected $172 million luxury tax threshold, sources told ESPN. The Timberwolves would’ve gone from approximately a $25 million-plus tax payment to a team receiving a tax distribution of approximately $6.5 million.
After decades of futility, the Timberwolves are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and Lore and Rodriguez’s cost-cutting projections were among the concerns that led Taylor to void a contract that would’ve finalized the sale of the Timberwolves and WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, sources told ESPN.
Through separate spokespersons, both Taylor and the Lore-Rodriguez group declined comment. In a recent memo, the NBA instructed both…
