BREAKING: Timberwolves restructure with Tim Connelly

[shangrila]

Ignoring the ownership side since I'm not at all interested into wading into that **** fight with you all, this isn't great. Tim's just kicked the can down the road so there's no real commitment.

It's nice that he's sticking around for another year but this isn't what I was hoping to hear from him.

[BlacJacMac]

Ignoring the ownership side since I'm not at all interested into wading into that **** fight with you all, this isn't great. Tim's just kicked the can down the road so there's no real commitment.

It's nice that he's sticking around for another year but this isn't what I was hoping to hear from him.

I don't think you can separate the ownership issue from his commitment.

I doubt its a coincidence that he originally gave himself an out in the summer that the ownership was supposed to transfer. Or that he pushed the decision out a year because it will not be decided by the deadline.

[Klomp]

Wrote this on another board. I’m sure it won’t be well-received by several Wolves posters.

Lore and AROD recruited and brought him in, so guessing he wants the ownership situation clarified before he decides to commit or leave.

Taylor keeps control, he leaves.
Arod/Lore take over, he happily stays.

I think that most people have that backwards, thinking like fans and not a GM. If you’re a GM, what are the two most important things you’d want in an owner?

1. Money. Taylor definitely has a big advantage here. He’s the richest man in Minnesota, and in his ‘80’s, he’s likely to continue to spend. Historically, he has consistently gone into the lux in those rare times MIN has had a good team, and even a few times when the Wolves have been bad, and he’s the guy who spent so much on a contract that the league instituted max deal language into the CBA. Connelly has seen him approve all the spending on extensions and the Gobert trade that has made MIN very expensive, and it’s been mostly his own dollars with majority ownership of the team. Taylor even agreed to pay Connelly’s contract, that was already very expensive compared to other GM’s in the league. On the other hand, most national media has questioned the financial resources of ARod and Lore since Day One. What’s going to happen when they are spending their own money, and not Taylor’s? Moreover, when forced to present their financial plan to their creditors and the other 29 owners to be approved to become a new owner, their plan would cut payroll so deeply they wouldn’t even pay the lux, let alone the first or second apron.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39915638/alex-rodriguez-marc-lore-planned-timberwolves-roster-payroll-cuts-concerning-glen-taylor

2. Autonomy. If you’re a GM, you don’t want your owners kibbitzing your decisions, and shooting down your plans. Taylor has a long history of empowering his GM’s to make their own decisions - and for MIN fans, he has given previous GM’s too long a rope, even when those GM’s were making bad decisions. Connelly has already gotten a taste of that autonomy firsthand from Taylor. When Tim Connelly presented Taylor with the Gobert trade, he was very skeptical like most of us, because of the financial cost and all the picks, but he trusted Connelly and agreed regardless. Every time Connelly has asked Taylor for money to extend a player, again, he’s agreed. As for ARod and Lore, we don’t know. The two have reportedly been involved in getting Connelly to make a big splash trade when they became minority owners, but what happens when they disagree with what Connelly wants to do? And again, their proposed plan to cut salary and break up the championship-level team would make any GM question whether this is a good group of owners to be working for going forward, when it’s their money.

Many GM’s around the league have to work for an owner that are a problem in these two core issues. As a fan, I can understand people wanting Taylor out (man, can I!), but if you’ve been Taylor’s GM for the past 30 years, it’s been a pretty cushy job.

From Darren Wolfson (who is in Glen Taylor's "camp" as much as any local media member)

“If it’s Glen in charge, I have a hard time believing Glen will pay an executive $15 million a year.”

[shrink]

From Darren Wolfson (who is in Glen Taylor's "camp" as much as any local media member)

“If it’s Glen in charge, I have a hard time believing Glen will pay an executive $15 million a year.”

$15 was always just a random number thrown out there by a writer on the Detroit Free Press

It seems likely that Connelly will return to Minnesota, but if Pistons owner Tom Gores is willing to offer something like $15 million annually, that could be enough to pry him away.

Deals with club employees (not players) are often private. Did we hear what the amount was on the restructured deal he signed?

FWIW, Connelly’s original $8 mil deal was extremely lucrative for an NBA exec who was only wearing the GM hat. From what I could find on a quick scan (and not all of these are public) I only found two, Pops and Pat Reilly, and both have additional responsibilities. I’d be surprised that any owner would pay a GM $15 mil.

[guest81]

Wrote this on another board. I’m sure it won’t be well-received by several Wolves posters.

Lore and AROD recruited and brought him in, so guessing he wants the ownership situation clarified before he decides to commit or leave.

Taylor keeps control, he leaves.
Arod/Lore take over, he happily stays.

I think that most people have that backwards, thinking like fans and not a GM. If you’re a GM, what are the two most important things you’d want in an owner?

1. Money. Taylor definitely has a big advantage here. He’s the richest man in Minnesota, and in his ‘80’s, he’s likely to continue to spend. Historically, he has consistently gone into the lux in those rare times MIN has had a good team, and even a few times when the Wolves have been bad, and he’s the guy who spent so much on a contract that the league instituted max deal language into the CBA. Connelly has seen him approve all the spending on extensions and the Gobert trade that has made MIN very expensive, and it’s been mostly his own dollars with majority ownership of the team. Taylor even agreed to pay Connelly’s contract, that was already very expensive compared to other GM’s in the league. On the other hand, most national media has questioned the financial resources of ARod and Lore since Day One. What’s going to happen when they are spending their own money, and not Taylor’s? Moreover, when forced to present their financial plan to their creditors and the other 29 owners to be approved to become a new owner, their plan would cut payroll so deeply they wouldn’t even pay the lux, let alone the first or second apron.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39915638/alex-rodriguez-marc-lore-planned-timberwolves-roster-payroll-cuts-concerning-glen-taylor

2. Autonomy. If you’re a GM, you don’t want your owners kibbitzing your decisions, and shooting down your plans. Taylor has a long history of empowering his GM’s to make their own decisions - and for MIN fans, he has given previous GM’s too long a rope, even when those GM’s were making bad decisions. Connelly has already gotten a taste of that autonomy firsthand from Taylor. When Tim Connelly presented Taylor with the Gobert trade, he was very skeptical like most of us, because of the financial cost and all the picks, but he trusted Connelly and agreed regardless. Every time Connelly has asked Taylor for money to extend a player, again, he’s agreed. As for ARod and Lore, we don’t know. The two have reportedly been involved in getting Connelly to make a big splash trade when they became minority owners, but what happens when they disagree with what Connelly wants to do? And again, their proposed plan to cut salary and break up the championship-level team would make any GM question whether this is a good group of owners to be working for going forward, when it’s their money.

Many GM’s around the league have to work for an owner that are a problem in these two core issues. As a fan, I can understand people wanting Taylor out (man, can I!), but if you’ve been Taylor’s GM for the past 30 years, it’s been a pretty cushy job.

!
Glen has gone into the tax 4 times ever end only once in almost 20 years. Let's not act like Glen has been some big spender

[TheProdigy]

Glen Taylor thought David Kahn was a good idea. I choose Lore and ARod.

[shrink]

Glen has gone into the tax 4 times ever end only once in almost 20 years. Let's not act like Glen has been some big spender

He is typical. Many owners are willing to spend over the lux when they have a good team, to keep their veteran expensive players together. As a team that has rarely attracted high priced vet players, and had even fewer contenders, there have certainly been fewer opportunities. I assume you don’t hold it against an owner for not throwing away lux taxes on years the teams that aren’t successful anyway. And as you might notice, MIN hasn’t had four contenders, so Taylor has been willing to spend on worse teams.

Two other things to keep in mind too. Taylor is the guy that paid Garnett so much that the owners changed the CBA to include max salaries. And Taylor today okayed the Gobert trade and all the extensions which will surely put MIN a well into the luxury tax. The more recently lux tax was paid on larger salaries, the larger the CBA penalties, and the higher the lux tax will be.

Casual fans, who don’t look at these things like RealGMers do, call him cheap. He has made minor “cheap” moves, just like you could find for nearly every owner. However, Taylor isn’t cheap, he’s about average and lately he’s been choosing to plunge deeply into the tax because he wants to keep this team together and winning.

[shrink]

Glen Taylor thought David Kahn was a good idea. I choose Lore and ARod.

This is the biggest issue with Taylor historically (although it feels like venting, since this is a thread on Connelly). Taylor has hired several poor GM’s for most of his term as owner of the Wolves, who do a poor job making draft picks or handling NBA transactions. I remember when Kahn didn’t even add up his cap space correctly, and had his offer to Kirilenko rejected by the NBA league office!

However, we should be happy he has taken himself farther out of the decision-making. The Wolves found Rosas with a committee, and Gersson made several right choices to create our young core of Ant, Jaden and Naz. The search committee for Tim Connelly was headed by ARod and Lore. To Taylor’s credit, he signed off with his own money

People are free to like Taylor or hate him. People can post negative things about him on any fan website, and fit right in. But this is RealGM, and we often know more about the GMing than other fans. But personally, I’m more interested in what Connelly thinks rather than an internet poster, and what we predict he will do.

[shangrila]

Ignoring the ownership side since I'm not at all interested into wading into that **** fight with you all, this isn't great. Tim's just kicked the can down the road so there's no real commitment.

It's nice that he's sticking around for another year but this isn't what I was hoping to hear from him.

I don't think you can separate the ownership issue from his commitment.

I doubt its a coincidence that he originally gave himself an out in the summer that the ownership was supposed to transfer. Or that he pushed the decision out a year because it will not be decided by the deadline.

I'm not separating ownership from his decision, I'm choosing not to engage with the already mildly toxic and inevitably asinine arguments that are going to break out about it over the summer around here.

I went through the "trade KAT" debates last year and never again.

[minimus]

It is time for TC to make impossible: find players who can replace Anderson in rotation. I hope that at least one from Miller/Minott duo will earn minutes in rotations. I also hope that Garza and Nix continue their physical transformation.

P.S. I also do think that keeping TC is more about continuity and stability than "miracles". I mean it is more about keeping current identity, right mentality, bringing here high character guys (coaches, players), and it is less about "maybe TC can find another Jokic in 2nd round". Tim does not have magic formula, just some his moves:

- signed Kyle Anderson
- drafted and traded Walker Kessler
- drafted Moore
- signed Shake Milton and Troy Brown
- traded for Monte Morris
- drafted Minott
- drafted Miller
- traded DLo, got Conley, NAW
- resigned both Conley and NAW to team friendly deals
- resigned Towns
- resigned Edwards
- resigned McDaniels
- resigned Naz

[MNRunLeft]

Idk if I agree on the Taylor vs Lore/Arod read…. On the $ front Taylor is worth an estimated $2.8 billion vs $3.3 billion for Lore

Whee did you get that $3.3 bil figure?

Wall Street Journal article about the ownership situation had a source claim that is/was Lore’s net worth. Not that it really matters because for any of these guys it’s less about net worth and more around what’s actually liquid and accessible which we have no clue.

Seemed like Lore didn’t have issues making his payment(s) and the issue came up late or not on an Arod led round. I think it’s more an issue of if Arod can afford to be a majority owner not can Lore afford it. Maybe that’s an issue still after the sale had gone through or maybe not.

[guest81]

Glen Taylor thought David Kahn was a good idea. I choose Lore and ARod.

This is the biggest issue with Taylor historically (although it feels like venting, since this is a thread on Connelly). Taylor has hired several poor GM’s for most of his term as owner of the Wolves, who do a poor job making draft picks or handling NBA transactions. I remember when Kahn didn’t even add up his cap space correctly, and had his offer to Kirilenko rejected by the NBA league office!

However, we should be happy he has taken himself farther out of the decision-making. The Wolves found Rosas with a committee, and Gersson made several right choices to create our young core of Ant, Jaden and Naz. The search committee for Tim Connelly was headed by ARod and Lore. To Taylor’s credit, he signed off with his own money

People are free to like Taylor or hate him. People can post negative things about him on any fan website, and fit right in. But this is RealGM, and we often know more about the GMing than other fans. But personally, I’m more interested in what Connelly thinks rather than an internet poster, and what we predict he will do.

We should be happy that the owner of a business is so terrible at running his business that he took himself out of making decisions is the argument that your making for keeping said person in charge?

[thinktank]

It absolutely is a fact that they did not have the money and missed the deadline. It's literally why this discussion is going.

As for the PE groups, the reality is the investment wasn't made, whether they want to or not, or the terms weren't favorable or they couldn't decide on the color of the pen they used to sign the deal and thats why it fell apart is irrelevant.

They do not have the money or want to put up more assets to cover the purchase of the team, they missed the deadline, and the deals they were trying the make happen fell apart.

I'm not sure why you arguing this.

According to Glen they missed the deadline. According to Lore and ARod they did not.

I think this is a really good video:

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=JoePompliano

Great video thanks. Just watched the whole thing. Seems like all of this means Taylor is just being a colossal dick.

Credit to Note for having an open mind.

[thinktank]

I’ll say this:

The most damning part of the whole story, even besides Taylor saying the deal is dead, is…

…Taylor secretly buying 3% from another owner when Lore had a greater percentage of ownership than Taylor (and that was in accordance with the agreement Taylor signed).

I don’t know how a court or mediators sees that, with its place in the timeline, and doesn’t see that as evidence that Taylor changed his mind about selling the team before the deadline was reached.

It says a lot.

[BlacJacMac]

It absolutely is a fact that they did not have the money and missed the deadline. It's literally why this discussion is going.

As for the PE groups, the reality is the investment wasn't made, whether they want to or not, or the terms weren't favorable or they couldn't decide on the color of the pen they used to sign the deal and thats why it fell apart is irrelevant.

They do not have the money or want to put up more assets to cover the purchase of the team, they missed the deadline, and the deals they were trying the make happen fell apart.

I'm not sure why you arguing this.

According to Glen they missed the deadline. According to Lore and ARod they did not.

I think this is a really good video:

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=JoePompliano

Great video thanks. Just watched the whole thing. Seems like all of this means Taylor is just being a colossal dick.

A relevant Canis comment on that video:

Statechamp82
Interesting video. That dude clearly has some competitive high school speech experience, I can hear the familiar structure of a HS extemp speech in there.

I am a lawyer, albeit not a sports lawyer, and I've read the sale agreement closely. The guy's conclusion is correct: the contract has a 90 day extension for NBA approval, and if as alleged Lore/Arod submitted a fully funded proposal to the NBA for approval before the deadline, the extension is automatic. Lore/Arod will end up owning the team.

Connolly certainly knows who is likely to win the ownership dispute. I read the extension of his option as confidence that Lore/Arod will take control by the end of next season. If Connolly thought Glen was going to win, he'd pull the plug now - his NBA job prospects have never been higher than there are right now.

[thinktank]

Holy ****!

The 12th richest man in the world just joined the Lore / ARod ownership group.

LOL.

(Mike Bloomberg)

I just don’t know if they’ll have enough money to go into the 2nd apron…

[MNRunLeft]

With Bloomberg on board it’s not longer an argument on which group has the resources to spend.

[Clav]

With Bloomberg on board it’s not longer an argument on which group has the resources to spend.

They will have Ballmer level capital to use, it's insane to even think of.

[m2002brian]

Soooooooo

Can we just open up the ownership thread again? Pretty please

[BlacJacMac]

Billionaire businessman and former three-term New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has reached an agreement to join the prospective Minnesota Timberwolves ownership group of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, league sources briefed on the agreement tell The Athletic.

Bloomberg, ranked by Forbes in April as the 12th-richest person in the world, brings a major investor to the Lore-Rodriguez group, which currently owns nearly 40 percent of the Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx and is in a battle with Glen Taylor for majority control of the franchises.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5545916/2024/06/06/michael-bloomberg-marc-lore-alex-rodriguez-ownership/