Report: Timberwolves prepared to pay luxury tax bill to keep roster intact

That's the word from the top Timberwolves insider, who says the ownership situation might not matter.

Feb 1, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Current majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves Glen Taylor and his wife Becky Mulvihill greet minority owner Alex Rodriguez (right) after the team defeated the Golden State Warriors at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports / Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Outside of reckless speculation, there has been zero information coming from the team or the team's most informed insiders that the Minnesota Timberwolves will do anything other than run it back with largely the same roster in 2024-25.

If that's true, then Minnesota is preparing to at least enter the upcoming season well above the luxury tax threshold. According to Spotrac, the Wolves are currently estimated to have a tax bill at the end of the 2024-25 season of about $51 million, which would be the second-largest tax bill in the league, only trailing a whopping $92 million estimate for the Phoenix Suns.

That's apparently a bill that Minnesota is prepared to pay. Jon Krawczynski, the longtime Timberwolves beat reporter, wrote in his story for The Athletic on Wednesday that current majority owner Glen Taylor and hopeful majority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are all fine with paying the tax to keep Minnesota's championship hopes as high as possible.

The uncertainty with ownership could be paralyzing, but for all of the bitterness between Taylor and Lore/Rodriguez, there is agreement on one front. All of the parties involved want the team to operate as a luxury-tax payer while a championship window is open, team sources said," Krawczysnki wrote. "That means that while Taylor is making the decisions now and would continue to should the arbitration panel rule in his favor, Lore and Rodriguez are ready to pay the tax should they prevail and gain league approval as the new owners."

The two sides are expected to have their dispute settled in arbitration later this year.

It makes sense that Minnesota wants to run it back after bowing out in the conference finals to the Dallas Mavericks. They can bring almost everyone back, including high-priced stars Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels. Mike Conley, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are also under contract for the upcoming season, which means the seven best players on the team are in place.

Those seven players will earn a combined total of about $186 million. The first apron of the 2024-25 luxury tax is projected to be around $178.7 million, according to ESPN, which means Minnesota will almost surely be at that level. The second apron, which comes with bigger taxes and more roster restrictions, starts at an estimated $189.5 million.

Running it back also comes with risks unless Minnesota can find a way to extend contracts with Reid and Alexander-Walker, who could both be testing free agency after the season.

Perhaps the most important thing to note when talking about large tax bills and the future of the franchise is that the bill isn't due until after the 2024-25 season, so if Minnesota isn't looking like a contender they could pull the trigger and trade a large contract (Towns or Gobert?) before the February trade deadline and then avoid the worst-case tax scenarios while also freeing up money to engage in contract extension talks with players like Reid and Alexander-Walker.

At the end of the day, all signs point to Minnesota running it back and there really is no reason to rush a roster move unless things are trending in the wrong direction ahead of the trade deadline.