The Timberwolves season is over. There has been more success for the franchise the last two years than in the other three-plus decades combined. And as eyes turn towards the future - including what is very likely to be new ownership pending an NBA Board of Governor's vote, a question:
Will the Minnesota Timberwolves want - and get - a new arena?
One of the people most tuned into what is happening behind the scenes with the team is The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski. He talked to WCCO's Scott Korzenowski on Friday and says after the new ownership group of Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore take over for current majority owner Glen Taylor, expect an exploration of a new home for the team.
"I don't think it's gonna be very long after they are officially taking the baton from Glen Taylor, that you will hear discussions about an arena," Krawczynski said. "I don't know how detailed the plans will be right away, but I do know that that ownership group has been working hard at an arena. They know that they have to do it."
That knowing they have to do it comes with the knowledge that Target Center - the team's current digs - is very old relative to the rest of the NBA. It's the league's second-oldest arena. Only New York's Madison Square Garden is older.
But, it's not like Target Center hasn't had a few facelifts over the years.
Target Center opened in 1990, a year after the Wolves franchise came into existence (the team played in the Metrodome for season one). Target Center underwent a major renovation in 2004 that saw the replacement of all 19,006 of its original seats plus the addition of nearly 1,500 new seats. They also reconfigured the lower bowl to make the arena more "fan-friendly" and replaced the arena's original scoreboard, added a lounge, etc.
That modernization of the arena over two decades ago led to another $155 million update in 2011. That included shifting the main entrance to the corner of 6th Street and First Avenue, two large glass atriums, another restaurant, and a complete remodel of the interior. That money came from the city and state as part of the package to build U.S. Bank Stadium for the Vikings.
Another $140 million was put into the arena in 2015 via the team and City of Minneapolis.
Up until this point, Taylor and Lore have been clear since approaching Taylor about buying the team that they have no intention of moving the Wolves out of Minnesota.