Glen Taylor intends to sell Timberwolves; Twin Cities are elated

Glen Taylor plans to sell the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves franchise.

After 25 years, Glen Taylor has decided he’s had enough owning the Minnesota Timberwolves.

According to Scott Soshnick of Sportico, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has hired Raine to explore a sale of the NBA franchise.” Soshnick reports the offers have been made to purchase the franchise already. Taylor bought the team back in 1995 for around $88 million. He’s asked for at least $1.2 billion, which he will absolutely get on the open market.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski also reported that a Kevin Garnett-led group of investors — and several other investor groups — are interested in purchasing the franchise.

Minnesota has been one of the longest suffering franchises on the hardwood for the last decade plus. Since Kevin Garnett’s final season with the team the first time around, the Timberwolves qualified for the NBA playoffs only once. The only other team with comparable futility this century has been the Western Conference’s Sacramento Kings. The Twin Cities have to be excited now.

Glen Taylor selling the Minnesota Timberwolves has the Twin Cities elated.

Per Soshnick’s report, Taylor is asking for slightly below what Forbes values the franchise. He wants at least $1.2 billion, while the Timberwolves are worth around $1.38 billion. The 79-year-old from Mankato has an estimated net worth of around $3 billion. Though he’s been a terrible owner, he stands to make a massive gain on his investment should he sell the NBA franchise.

The good news for Minnesotans is their NBA team may one day be as well-run as their WNBA franchise. The Minnesota Lynx have been the gold standard for success in the last decade or so. All the while, the Timberwolves masquerade as a small market team, playing in a large metropolitan area that prominently features one professional team in all five major leagues.

Obviously, the Timberwolves have a long way to go to become one of the better-run franchises in the Western Conference that has so many. Selling the team isn’t going to fix everything, but it will allow the franchise to be better run than it was in the last 15 or so years of Taylor’s ownership. Let him cash out and get his money, while someone else can come in and run a solid operation.

Taylor selling the team is the best thing to happen to the franchise since Garnett played for them.