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
While Taylor’s seller’s remorse may be the reason the Timberwolves sale fell through, there are also rumors that it was Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore who fumbled this deal because they couldn’t come up with the cash.
“About a year ago, definitely started hearing things about, “Hey man, keep an eye on that Minnesota thing. I’m not sure those guys have the money to make the payments.’ And there was always stuff about, ‘Oh, they barely made the last one.’ So, people were kind of watching what would happen with this last payment.”
Simmons also shared that he heard a rumor that Rodriguez and Lore were talking to “multiple heavy-hitters” about coming in with “real money” to help them close this deal.
Yes, A-Rod and Lore had additional investors, but the Wall Street Journal puts Lore’s net worth at $3.3 billion and Rodriguez’s at $500 million after making $344.9 million in his MLB career. Coming up with $1.5 billion in cash is not an easy feat, even for billionaires, and while Lore is rich beyond nearly any imagination, he is not even to half the level of new Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who is worth around $8 billion.
The fallout from all this, no matter what the reason, is that the Timberwolves are no longer for sale, as Taylor says he will hold on to the team for the foreseeable future.
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