The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered a disappointing end to the 2024-25 season earlier this week in the form of a 124-94 blowout loss in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, things are still on the up-and-up for the franchise.
Anthony Edwards, the face of the organization and a legitimate superstar, is only 23 years old. He helped lead Minnesota to its third-ever (and second consecutive) WCF appearance this year. And beginning this offseason, longtime Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor will transition control of the team to the new ownership group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez— who already have one big improvement in mind.
Reporting for The Athletic, Wolves beat writer Jon Krawczynski said on Friday the new owners are interested in a new arena for the team.
"Now it is up to Lore and Rodriguez, who recruited Connelly to Minnesota three years ago, to build upon the recent run of success," Krawczynski wrote. "They plan to be much more aggressive with their investment on the business side of the operations, including formulating plans for a new arena, team sources told The Athletic. The partners have openly stated their firm commitment to keeping the team in Minnesota, and team sources reiterated that is the long-term vision for a team that is booming in popularity locally, thanks to their playoff runs the last two seasons."
The Target Center is the second-oldest arena in the league behind only Madison Square Garden. The Wolves have played there since the 1990-91 season. It may be time for an upgrade and, as noted above, there should be no fear from the fans that the new owners want to use this as an excuse to look elsewhere for a new home; whatever comes after the Target Center will be in Minnesota.
These sorts of things take years to come together. The Wolves have not played their last game at the Target Center. But the report serves as the first brush against the winds of change that will come with Lore and Rodriguez's ownership.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Timberwolves Expected to Explore Plans for New Arena After Ownership Transition.
