Timberwolves news: Bill Simmons dishes on how NBA expansion rumors impacted Alex Rodriguez’s failed ownership bid

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons may not have his fastball anymore these days, especially when it comes to his out-of-touch NFL predictions or his homer-rific NBA takes. However, you can’t deny that he is still plugged-in to the NBA world and loves the gossip around the business side of pro basketball. That’s why when Simmons offers some nuggets about why Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor squashed the sale of the franchise to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, it’s worth listening to.

Glen Taylor killed the Timberwolves sale because he wants the NBA expansion check

To make a long, complicated story short for now, the Timberwolves sale between current owner Glen Taylor and a group led by MLB legend Alex Rodriguez and businessman Marc Lore fell through — according to Taylor’s side — because the buyers had to have the money in by a certain date, and they missed the date.

However, there seems to be other factors in play as well.

For one, Taylor, A-Rod, and Lore agree to a price of $1.5 billion in 2021 for the T’Wolves and Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. The agreement was set to culminate in 2024, giving Taylor more time as owner and Rodriguez and Lore time to come up with the cash.

In those three years, the value of NBA franchises has continued to grow, and now the team is likely worth double that price.

Additionally, as Bill Simmons and others have floated repeatedly, the NBA is on the verge of expansion, and that would mean a huge payday for all the owners of teams. Simmons suggests that this check could be the reason Taylor wants to hang on for a while longer.

“Recently I was thinking (expansion team fees) might get to nine (billion dollars) and that’s kind of where I settled in my head, especially after talking to people,” Simmons told listeners of The Bill Simmons Podcast. “It would be $9 billion between the two teams, so 4.5 billion each. Higher than the Suns’ valuation, and every owner would get a check of 300 million dollars — cash. Just wire it to my account.”

And what makes this check different than the media rights check or the ticket sales check or even the NBA title check is that it all goes straight into the pocket of the team’s ownership.

“What’s interesting about the expansion fees, they don’t have to share that money with the players. So, this is just a straight check,” Simmons explained. “So, if you’re selling a team — that’s why the Jordan thing was a little curious to me, that’s why even Cuban, even though I know it’d been going on for a year, why would you sell the team before you got that giant expansion check?”

Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore may have dropped the ball