Timberwolves owner, Glen Taylor, negotiating sale of minority stake in team

By foxsports
Published

Glen Taylor has been the owner of the Timberwolves for more than two decades. For now, it doesn't look like that is going to change, but the 74-year-old is looking to sell a major chunk of the team, per Yahoo Sports/FOX Sports 1 NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski:

As Wojnarowski notes, Kaplan's group tried to buy the Hawks when they were for sale in 2014, too. Of course, they lost out on that bidding. 

Levien, meanwhile, has almost become a curse word amongst basketball fans. He spent time in the Kings ownership group in 2008, but was ousted there. He was part of the group that helped Josh Harris purchase the 76ers. Then, after being pushed out in Philly, he took over as Grizzlies CEO for two years before the organization curiously got rid of him.

It's not quite apparent why Levien has bounced around so much throughout his basketball career, but each time he's left an organization, it's been on someone else's terms. Let's just see how long he lasts in Minnesota.

Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is engaged in serious talks to sell an approximate 20 percent stake in the franchise to a group led by Memphis Grizzlies minority partner Steve Kaplan, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

For the Kaplan group, a significant motivation in purchasing the minority share of the Timberwolves is vested in hopes to position itself to buy the majority stake once Taylor decides to sell in the future, sources said. Nevertheless, whatever its wishes, there's no assurance Kaplan's group would have an inside track on eventual majority ownership.

Kaplan is partnering with controversial ex-Memphis Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien and Indonesian billionaires Handy Soetedjo and Erick Thohir, league sources said.

Kaplan, a Los Angeles-based private equity investor, would need to divest its ownership stakes in Memphis to complete a deal with Minnesota.