Glen Taylor expects his Timberwolves franchise to lose $5 million to $10 million this season but hopes to “break-even” financially in 2013-14. During an interview with Sports Headliners the Mankato billionaire and Wolves owner also said he’s not close to selling the team, looks forward to having Kevin Love on the roster for many years and isn’t ready to evaluate general manager David Kahn’s expiring contract.
The franchise has been losing money for years but those deficits have apparently been reduced. In 2010, for example, there was speculation the Wolves would lose $25 million.
Taylor has seen the value of his franchise increase over the years from when he purchased it in 1995 for a reported $88 million. Forbes.com valued the Wolves at $364 million last month.
Taylor, 71, has been shopping the team for awhile. Taylor’s proposal has him remaining as the majority owner for “sometime” with a limited partner eventually taking over the franchise. Some prospective buyers desire control immediately but that’s not what Taylor wants.
“I am not close to anything,” he said. “I continue to talk to people who have shown interest.”
Love, the Wolves Olympian and All-Star forward, made national headlines earlier this season in a Yahoo! Sports article expressing frustration with the franchise. Taylor said the story conveyed the message Love doesn’t like his teammates and the fans, and doesn’t want to play here, but Taylor explained that’s not correct.
“Well, he does regret it (the story),” Taylor said. “He’s expressed that. He didn’t quite anticipate it would come out the way it did. …”
Taylor and Love have talked about the future. He expects Love to be with the franchise even beyond the remaining three seasons on his contract starting next fall.
“Yeah, that’s what he indicated to me, that he’s looking long run,” Taylor said. “I think he knows of Ricky’s (Rubio) potential. …He likes some of the other players on the team. He can see we’re building a good nucleus. He certainly likes the coach (Rick Adelman).”
Love hasn’t played since January 3 because of injury. Taylor said it’s been a frustrating season for the 24-year-old who missed the start of the season with a similar hand injury but that’s not a reason to bring him back on the court until the medical staff determines it’s the right decision. Whether Love will play again before the season ends next month is in doubt.
Kahn has been the team’s general manager since 2009. He and Taylor talk frequently including about how to manage the roster regarding personnel and salaries. During Kahn’s watch the team has added impact players in Rubio, Andrei Kirilenko, Alexey Shved and Chase Budinger but has yet to make the playoffs and almost for certain will miss again this spring.
Also frustrating is that except for Rubio, Kahn and his scouting staff has regularly misfired on their first and second round draft choices. Among first and second round picks since 2009, only Rubio and Derrick Williams are still with the team. Williams, the second pick in the first round of the 2011 draft, has teased with his potential as both a small and power forward but shown no consistency.
Taylor admitted he is “disappointed” with the first round draft results but said Kahn has “done a lot of things we’ve asked him to do.” And Taylor said he can’t hold Kahn responsible for a bizarre number of injuries that have at times sidelined many of the team’s most important players including starters and subs.
The Wolves have an option on Kahn’s contract. “We evaluate everything at the end of the year,” Taylor said. “To say that we haven’t done very well on the draft choices is a correct statement. Is that all of his responsibility? It’s certainly part of his responsibility.”
Worth Noting
Gophers coach Tubby Smith criticized the senior leadership on his team during the 1500 ESPN postgame show following last week’s 71-45 loss to Ohio State. Commentator Spencer Tollackson prompted the remark while talking about the importance of senior leadership late in the season and implying how that’s needed when a team is struggling. “Unfortunately we don’t have that type of leadership within our seniors. So it’s got to come from me and obviously I’ve done a poor job of doing that,” Smith said.
The Gophers had 24 turnovers in the game. “I have to admit obviously we’re not having as competitive practices as we have to have in order for us to get better because obviously we haven’t gotten better,” Smith said in the interview. “Our ball-handling has gone backwards. …Everybody kind of contributed to turning the ball over, especially our post players with 10 between Mo (Walker) and Trevor (Mbawke). Just baffling, to be honest with you.”
The Gophers, who have lost four of their last five games, are 6-8 in the Big Ten and 18-9 overall. Minnesota plays No. 1 ranked Indiana at Williams Arena tomorrow night.
The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament in Chicago March 14-17 is a sellout.
At Sports Headliners’ request, prep basketball authority Ken Lien prepared the following rankings of Minnesota high school boys’ teams.
Class 4A: Apple Valley, Osseo, Park Center, Edina, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Lakeville North, Brainerd.
Class 3A: DeLaSalle, Austin, Marshall, Delano, Blake, Holy Angels, Waconia, Hermantown.
Class 2A: Melrose, Hawley, Fairmont, Maple River, St. Peter, Byron, Braham, Redwood Valley.
Class 1A: Upsala, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrose, Maranatha Christian Academy, Southwest Minnesota Christian, Rushford-Peterson, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Browerville, Ada-Borup.
The MIAC announced last week that in 2012 the conference led all Division III leagues in football attendance for the seventh time in eight years. The conference’s nine teams hosted 48 games with attendance of 161,870, averaging 3,372 per game.
For the 15th time in 20 years Saint John’s led all Division III schools in attendance, averaging 7,948 per game and a total of 39,741. Concordia finished No. 5 with total attendance of 24,197, averaging 4,839 fans. Concordia has been in the top five two years in a row and in the top 10 seven of the last eight years.
Patrick Klinger & Company is presenting a seminar titled “Using Sports to Drive Your Business” on Tuesday, March 19 at the University of St. Thomas. The seminar’s intent is to help businesses identify the right sponsorships to maximize investments and produce measurable results. Prior to establishing his company, Patrick Klinger was Twins vice president of marketing for more than a decade. More information about the seminar is available at klingercompany.com or by calling 612-366-0419.
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