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LAS VEGAS — Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore have been the Timberwolves and Lynx majority owners for a couple of weeks, but they are already planning a new arena for the organization.
The duo met with the media Friday at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas to be formally introduced as the majority owners after an 18-month legal battle with outgoing owner Glen Taylor. Taylor accused the duo of lacking the funds to meet a payment in a tiered purchase of the franchise that started in 2021 and went through mediation and arbitration before finally being approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors in late June.
A new arena appears to be among their top priorities.
“If you want to compete at the level we want to compete year in and year out, a new arena is what our fans deserve,” Rodriguez said. “We’re in the very early stages.”
The Target Center has housed both teams throughout their existence after opening in 1990, when the Timberwolves joined the NBA. The Lynx followed in 1999. Rodriguez pointed to his own playing career when discussing his reasoning. He was with the Mariners when they moved from the Kingdome to Safeco Field in 1999, and with the Yankees when the new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009.
“Back in the day, you could probably say it was a vanity,” Rodriguez said. “It was a nice little treat to have. Today it’s a necessity.”
Renovating the Target Center would be cheaper than building a new arena. For context, Oklahoma City is about to break ground on a new arena for the Thunder that will cost roughly $900 million. It would also allow the team to keep its downtown location without dipping into the local politics of funding a new building. Minnesota taxpayers are currently being asked to help fund another arena’s renovations after the Wild asked the state for $395 million to help upgrade the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Luxury Tax
Taylor’s name was not mentioned at all during Lore and Rodriguez’s press conference, but his influence on the organization was still felt.
In his tenure as owner, Taylor paid just $25 million in luxury tax through 2024, before the Timberwolves roster became the second-highest payroll this season at nearly $200 million. It made Taylor’s claim ironic that he halted the deal with Lore and Rodriguez because he was concerned they would slash the team’s payroll, impacting its ability to contend.
Lore went out of his way to say payroll won’t be an issue for him and Rodriguez as they look to build a sustainable winner.
“Being willing to invest, pay the tax and invest in the team,” Lore said, “we think about it like we do a start-up where start-ups lose money, but they’re investing because it’s creating enterprise value for the long-term.”
The Timberwolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks before the start of the season to unload his four-year, $224 million contract. This summer the team has re-signed forwards Naz Reid and Julius Randle for a combined $224 million.
Return of KG?
A No. 21 banner doesn’t hang from the Target Center’s rafters because of the soured relationship between Taylor and Kevin Garnett, the greatest player in Timberwolves history.
Garnett was promised an ownership stake in the team when he finished his career with the Timberwolves in 2016 after playing for the Celtics and Nets in between his stints in Minnesota. But it never happened, and Garnett and Taylor’s relationship never recovered.
The 49-year-old has not attended any postseason games at Target Center despite the team appearing in consecutive conference finals for the first time in franchise history.
Both Rodriguez and Lore expressed their admiration for Garnett and said they’d like to repair relations with the Hall of Famer.
“He’s the GOAT in Minnesota,” Lore said. “We have a tremendous respect for KG and everything he’s accomplished. We’d love to get closer to him and we know the fans want to see that and we want to see that, too.”
“Anything that’s important to our fan base is going to be important to us,” Rodriguez added. “He means a great deal to our fan base. Marc and I are going to be working on that.”
