NBA May Propose Seattle Expansion to Resolve Timberwolves Dispute

It’s been a complicated three-year partnership-turned-conflict between Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore, and longtime Minnesota Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor.

Now, with the arbitration hearings just weeks away, there is still no official date set. Could this indicate that the hearings might not happen after all?

Last week, I would have said, ‘absolutely not.’ Neither side has shown any sign of backing down so far, so why would that change now? However, Charley Walters (Pioneer Press) suggests we shouldn’t be so sure.

Is the NBA planning to offer a Seattle expansion franchise to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez?

In his most recent column, the longtime St. Paul insider (and Glen Taylor confidant) mentioned that “it wouldn’t be surprising” if the NBA offered an expansion franchise opportunity to Lore and A-Rod to persuade them to step back from their dispute with Glen Taylor.

To avoid an arbitration hearing over Timberwolves-Lynx ownership with Glen Taylor, the NBA might offer Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, who initially agreed to buy the teams for $1.5 billion, the first chance at an expansion team in Seattle, where Rodriguez was a popular player with the Mariners.

I hadn’t considered this as an escape plan for Taylor. I always thought he would rely on the upcoming NBA owner vote as his trump card. If Lore and A-Rod won the arbitration case, I assumed Glen would simply ask his NBA owner friends to vote “No” on Lore and A-Rod.

Many Minnesota Timberwolves fans won’t buy into this ‘everyone wins’ narrative.

This approach appears to be a win-win for both ownership groups. Marc and Alex would secure an NBA franchise in Seattle, a location that seems more fitting for them.

Not only would they obtain a franchise in a more favorable setting, but they would also receive about double their initial three-year investment in the Wolves. This money could then be used to support their expansion project in Seattle.

In such a deal, it’s expected that Taylor would buy out Rodriguez-Lore’s 40 percent stake at nearly double their original investment, due to the significant increase in franchise value over the past three years, especially with the NBA’s new media deal reportedly worth $76 billion over 11 years.

The surge in NBA team values is attributed to the growing global popularity of basketball, with more than a fifth of recent draft picks being international players.

However, many Minnesota Timberwolves fans might not view this as a win-win situation, particularly if esteemed president of basketball operations Tim Connelly also departs alongside Marc Lore.

If this is the initial entry in Walters’ “Don’t Print That” section, you can be sure he has a reliable source. It could be Glen Taylor or someone else, but he has likely consulted with the Wolves owner to confirm its accuracy. The absence of a set date for the hearings and the timing of this report suggest it is not a coincidence.