Glen Taylor insisted to Tim Connelly this offseason that he was comfortable with the Minnesota Timberwolves paying a significant luxury tax bill this season and that he preferred to retain Karl-Anthony Towns rather than make a trade that made their team worse this season, sources tell The Athletic.
Taylor is currently in a dispute over the ownership of the Wolves with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. Taylor remains the final decision-maker with the franchise as the dispute is pending. Taylor told Connelly that he wouldn’t sign off on a trade unless it helped them competitively this season.
Connelly has no interest in starting a rebuild, but he also realized he needed more optionality in the near- and long-term. The Wolves will now save enough money to likely retain Naz Reid and it could open up more roster building mechanisms if they drop below the second apron for the 25-26 season.
Sources also say there were few other viable options for a Towns’ trade beyond what the Knicks were offering as the Wolves wanted established players.