The Timberwolves' deal -- "so long in the making, seemingly
completed five weeks ago -- is not done yet." The Wolves' lease
at the Target Center remains a major "stumbling block." Wolves
buyer Glen Taylor said his reps. were meeting with officials from
the Target Center and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities
Commission in an effort to resolve key issues in negotiations for
the Wolves' new 30-year arena lease. Taylor said the arena lease
must be completed within 10 days to satisfy the NBA's Board of
Governors, which is set to vote on his purchase of the Wolves on
October 4. Taylor made optimistic comments about resolving the
lease problem only 12 hours after he told members of The Dunkers,
a Twin Cities breakfast group: "If we don't get a lease with the
commission, we will not buy the team." The sale of the Wolves
goes hand-in-hand with the sale of Target Center to the sports
facilities commission; both the team and arena still are owned by
Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner. The commission will buy the
Target Center for $42M, using bonds issued by the Metropolitan
Council and backed by the city of Minneapolis (Weiner & Hartman,
Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/14).
