Though the Timberwolves may have new owners soon, that doesn't necessarily mean that the city or state in which the team plays would change as well. In fact, Glen Taylor told WCCO Radio that the deal to sell the team has a provision in place that would keep the Timberwolves right where they are once ownership shifted.
...Or is there? According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Meyer Orbach, the Timberwolves' second-biggest shareholder, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis that claimed Taylor's sale of the franchise to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore violates the franchise's partnership agreement. Part of what the complaint pointed out was that there exists no provision in the agreement that would require Rodriguez and Lore to keep the team in Minnesota.
Under the "Governance Matters" section of the sale agreement, there is even a list of actions that new ownership would need to "present to the Advisory Board for discussion" if there was a plan to move the team to a different market. Furthermore, wording in the agreement says that the "Advisory Board is advisory only... and no action... requires the approval, in any form, by the Advisory Board to be effective."
How does Wojnarowski sum this up? By saying that, basically, "there are no contractual limitations" that would keep Rodriguez and Lore from relocating the team.
Orbach's complaint also said that Taylor did not honor the "tag-along rights" for minority shareholders of the Timberwolves, which would allow them to sell their interests in the franchise before Taylor sells his. Thus, the complaint says this, according to the copy of the complaint that Woj and ESPN obtained:
"When Orbit [Orbach's company] attempted to exercise its tag-along rights, Taylor not only ignored Orbit but also privately stated -- contrary to his public statements -- that he's not proposing to enter into a "control sale" with Rodriguez and Lore at this time. Instead, Taylor is claiming that any "control sale" will be years in the future, and therefore Orbit currently does not have any tag-along rights.
"Taylor is wrong. Although the deal with Rodriguez and Lore was structured in a clumsy attempt to circumvent Orbit's tag-along rights, it does not deprive Orbit of its tag-along rights. ... The tag-along rights are triggered regardless of whether control is transferred "in a single transaction or a series of related transactions," according to the Timberwolves partnership agreement."
According to Wojnarowski, Rodriguez and Lore are expected to buy the Timberwolves in installments until they own the controlling percentage of the team for the 2023-24 season.
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