Charley Walters: Lore, Rodriguez get permission to delay payment for Timberwolves

Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, the business partners who 18 months ago agreed to buy the Timberwolves and Lynx from Glen Taylor for $1.5 billion, have received permission from Taylor to delay a second $200 million payment that was due five weeks ago.

The reason for the delay is unclear. The second $200 million payment is now due on March 28. By the end of the year, another payment, expected to be more than $400 million that would include buying out the teams’ limited partners, will be due.

Rodriguez on Wednesday told Taylor he and Lore still plan to buy the Wolves and Lynx and will be able to finance the deal.

The NBA’s board of directors hasn’t yet approved the sale.

Taylor doesn’t seem concerned by the missed payment. If the deal falls through, he probably would retain ownership of his teams rather than put them back on the market. In December, an agreement to buy the Phoenix Suns and WNBA Mercury was reached for a record $4 billion. Since Taylor’s agreement to sell to Rodriguez and Lore, four NBA teams have sold for at least $2 billion.

>> The fact that the Vikings haven’t yet chosen a new defensive coordinator probably means none of the four people already interviewed are their top choice. That guy, from the start, apparently has been Ejiro Evert, 42, defensive coordinator for the Broncos. Evero was on the Rams’ Super Bowl championship staff with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
Whether Evero, who is still under contract with Denver, becomes available could depend on who new Broncos coach Sean Payton wants as defensive coordinator. If Evero isn’t available, Seattle associate coach Sean Desai appears to be the Vikings’ fallback choice.

>> The defenses displayed by the Eagles, Chiefs, Bengals and 49ers in the NFL’s final four playoffs glaringly demonstrate how far away the Vikings are from a Super Bowl.
The Vikings next season play each of those final four playoff teams.

>> It’s still a bit puzzling why the Vikings switched to a 3-4 defense this season with such a weak three-player front. The only guy who was really decent was nose tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, and he’s more a run stopper than a pass rusher.

>> It’s doubtful the Vikings’ defense, which has been lousy the past three seasons, can be rebuilt in just one offseason, regardless of who the new defensive coordinator is.
Still, it looks like the Vikings will employ the 3-4 defense next season.

>> Newly elected Twins Hall of Famer Joe Mauer is receiving plaudits for the wonderful eulogy he gave for his father Jake recently at St. Odilia, emphasizing the example his dad set for his three sons and 10 grandchildren about the importance of family.

>> Look for St. Paul Saints games this season to have robot umpires for balls and strikes.

>> Luis Arraez, traded by the Twins to the Miami Marlins, is ranked baseball’s ninth-best first baseman; the Twins’ Carlos Correa is the second-best shortstop, behind only Trea Turner of the Phillies, and the Twins’ Jorge Polanco is the sixth-best second baseman in baseball, one spot ahead of 2022 Gold Glove Award winner Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals, per Major League Network.

With Arraez gone, the Twins now lack a certified leadoff hitter.

>> Arraez’s contract comparable is National League batting champion Jeff McNeil, who last week agreed to a $50 million, four-deal with the New York Mets. Arraez, 26, last week won a $6.1 million salary case against the Marlins.

>> Jon Rahm, who won his first two PGA Tour tournaments (and $4.1 million) this year, in 2012 for Arizona State, in his first collegiate tournament, tied for 41st in the Gophers Invitational at Spring Hill in Wayzata.

>> Wide receiver Adam Thielen, 32, bought a home for $2.19 million on the Lake Nona country club course in Orlando, Fla., and hopes to try to qualify for the PGA Tour when he retires. After the Vikings’ playoff loss to the Giants, he played in the Hilton LPGA-celebrity tournament at Lake Nona.

>> Former Vikings No. 81, Carl Eller, turned 81 the other day.

>> Hall of fame pitcher Jack Morris, 67, who was refreshingly candid as a Twins broadcast analyst, is not returning this season to the Detroit Tigers broadcast team, per the Detroit Free Press.

>> The way it looks now, the first of four first-round draft picks the Timberwolves traded to Utah for Rudy Gobert will be in the No. 18 range. The Wolves’ lone pick for June’s draft is No. 50 overall.

>> The Green Bay Packers the other day made 2016 Cretin-Derham Hall grad Erin Roberge their first full-time female trainer in franchise history.

>> Stillwater freshman Nick Kinsey, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound QB-pitcher-outfielder transfer from Benilde-St. Margaret’s, tweets that he has received a football offer from the University of Mississippi. Connecticut also reportedly has offered for football.

>> Benilde-St. Margaret’s 6-1,195-pound senior center-fielder Easton Breyfogle, the No. 1 Minnesota prospect in his class per Prep Baseball Report, has committed to Arizona and is getting some pro interest.

>> On Friday evening, Stillwater Area High School will retire basketball jersey No. 55 that was worn by record-setting center Chris Engler, who led the Ponies to two state tournament appearances and went on to a five-year NBA career.

Engler, 63, who is courageously dealing with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), is involved in an ALS fundraiser on Feb. 18 at Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater featuring some major sports auction items.

>> Incomparable NHL radio voice Bob Kurtz, 75, to be honored by the Wild on Saturday before the opening face-off against New Jersey, on his plans in retirement: “Get in the golf cart.”

>> That was goaltender Jaxson Stauber, 23, son of former Gophers Hobey Baker-winning goalie Robb Stauber, winning his first NHL start for the Chicago Blackhawks against the St. Louis Blues last week.

>> Former Cretin-Derham Hall guard Ryan Larson is averaging 10.7 points for Charleston (21-3), which is ranked No. 18 nationally.

>> Plans are for St. Paul native Tom Ryan, 69, to retire as Minnesota Golf Association executive director this year.

>> Wendy Blackshaw, Meka Morris, Lara Juras, Carin Anderson and Andrea Yoch headline a Capital Club “Women Sports Executives” breakfast panel on Wednesday at Mendakota Country Club.

>> A breakfast panel led by KSTP-TV’s Joe Schmit featuring University of St. Thomas men’s basketball, men’s hockey and football coaches will be Wednesday at Interlachen Country Club.

>> The Mancini’s St. Paul Sports Hall of Fame banquet will be May 15 at the Char House.

>> Mega-talented St. Thomas Academy grad Judd Spicer, working in Palm Springs, Calif., recently won two national sportswriter-sportscaster honors.

>> Condolences to the family of Woodbury’s late Harold Gifford, who in the dark masterfully landed a faltering Minneapolis Lakers team plane full of players in an Iowa cornfield in January 1960, saving lives of all aboard. He was 99.

>> Woodbury grad Tim Bomgren, with partner Piotr Marciniak, won the Association of Volleyball Professionals Virginia Beach Open.

Don’t print that

>> The Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns is contracted for $62.1 million in 2027, but that salary could be dwarfed by some players (hello Anthony Edwards) when the NBA’s new gigantic TV deal begins in five years, with some players expected to be paid as much as $75 million a season.

>> Towns, 27, is from New Jersey. His former agent, Leon Rose, is now president of the New York Knicks, who coincidentally have nine future first-round draft picks. The Wolves are playing well without Towns and need draft picks. The NBA trade deadline is Thursday.

>> The Timberwolves have no player jerseys among the NBA’s top sellers.

>> The Twins’ projected top five starting pitchers all were acquired by trade: Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle.

>> The issue for the Vikings if they were to try to acquire QB Trey Lance, 22, from SAn Francisco is that the Marshall High (Minn.) grad hasn’t played much in three years and remains unproven. Lance’s trade value now probably is in the third-round draft pick range that could become a second-rounder should he meet performance incentives.

>> Market value if the Vikings were to try to trade QB Kirk Cousins, who turns 35 in August, now might be second- and third-round picks spread out over a couple of years.

>> The Vikings don’t draft until No. 23 overall in April, so it’s virtually impossible to get one of the top QBs.

>> New Twins trainer Nick Paparesta rehabbed manager Rocco Baldelli, 41, when Rocco was a player for Tampa Bay.

>> Considering the free agency transfer portal, Gophers rooters should be concerned about retaining QB Athan Kaliakmanis, who impressed during his freshman season.

>> It’s not a given that running back Dalvin Cook, 27, with a salary of $10.4 million, returns to the Vikings next season.

>> The Vikings are $23 million over next season’s NFL salary cap, but the cap really is nothing more than an accounting method to allocate where you put money. How much owners Zygi and Mark Wilf are willing to spend in real money is what counts. Teams actually can get around the cap, which really is an artificial mechanism, whenever they want.

>> It hasn’t been announced, but it still looks like ex-Vikings coach Mike Zimmer will be joining Deion Sanders at Colorado.

>> Gophers football since Mark Coyle hired P.J. Fleck in 2017 is 26-26 in Big Ten Conference play. Gophers men’s basketball since Coyle hired Ben Johnson and women’s basketball coach Lindsay Whalen has a combined conference record of 35-78.

>> Fired Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino’s New Mexico team is 6-4 in the Mountain West, 19-4 overall. San Diego State, coached by ex-Gophers coach Jim Dutcher’s son Brian, who was considered for the Minnesota job, is 9-2 in the Mountain West and 18-5 overall. Long Beach State, coached by ex-Gophers coach Don Monson, is 7-4 in the Big West and 13-10 overall.

>> No doubt had the men’s basketball Gophers, via the transfer portal, not lost Marcus Carr to Texas, Liam Robbins to Vanderbilt and Gabe Kalscheur to Iowa State, they would be an NCAA tournament team this season.

>> The Twins’ trade with Kansas City for Gold Glove center-fielder Michael A. Taylor means more designated-hitter time for oft-injured Byron Buxton. Also, Taylor has speed, and the Twins were last in baseball in stolen bases last season, with just 14.

>> The Twins likely will take out a six-year insurance rider on Carlos Correa’s surgically-repaired right ankle.

>> Now that the Twins have traded Luis Arraez and his No. 2 jersey, 1965 American League Most Valuable Player Zoilo Versalles’ No. 2 jersey is available for retirement.

>> Scott Rolen’s recent election to baseball’s hall of fame statistically portends well for ex-Twin Joe Mauer, the only catcher to win a batting title in the 121-year history of the American League.

>> Ex-Twin Torii Hunter received 27 votes (6.9 percent) in the recent Writers Association Hall of Fame balloting, meaning he’ll be back on next year’s ballot.

>> Six grandsons of St. Paul baseball progenitor Jake Mauer, who died at age 66, are boys ranging from ages 5 to 14, and five are playing organized baseball.

>> Although he’s just a rookie, the Philadelphia Flyers have been so impressed with Stillwater and Minnesota Duluth grad Noah Cates, who turns 24 on Sunday, that there’s already buzz the winger someday will be a Flyers captain. He just bought a home in North St. Paul.

>> The Twins have worked to bring former manager Ron Gardenhire, 65, back into the organization.

>> Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, 39, who is guaranteed nearly $60 million next season, has made more than $550 million during his career counting off-field earnings, sportico.com points out. Rogers is playing in this weekend’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a 10 handicap.

>> Peerless marketeers Tim Leiweke (ex-Timberwolves executive) and brother Tod Leiweke (ex-Wild president) have their new Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., home of the Coachella Valley American Hockey League Firebirds, averaging 6,962 fans per game, 1,029 more than the Iowa Wild.

>> Twins bench coach Jayce Tingler, who was with new Twin Joey Gallo with the Texas Rangers, was consulted before the Twins acquired Gallo, who struggled the past two seasons with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

>> It should be a given that the University of St. Thomas retains its basketball floor named after Tommies icon Steve Fritz when it gets its new arena.

>> Names on banners in rafters at the Dallas Stars’ practice facility include former North Stars Bill Goldsworthy, Neal Broten, Bill Masterton and Mike Modano.

>> Jack Larson, the longtime Xcel Energy Center general manager, and the St. Paul venue have parted ways.

>> Now that the French government and the NBA recently decided to work together on several initiatives, it will be interesting whether ex-Timberwolves GM David Kahn, who is president of Paris Basketball, gets involved in Paris’ hosting of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Overheard

> Stanzel Sports Takeout on the Empire State Building’s insult to the New York Giants by lighting up in Philadelphia Eagles’ green colors: “No word if Minneapolis will light up the 35W bridge in Packers colors when they win the Super Bowl with (QB) Jordan Love.”