Arron Afflalo Renewing Bid to Buy T-Wolves Amid Alex Rodriguez Negotiations

Former NBA player Arron Afflalo is renewing the bid from his ownership group to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.

Tech entrepreneur Marc Lore and former baseball star Alex Rodriguez had an exclusive 30-day negotiating window with current owner Glen Taylor, but the period expired without a deal, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst. Lore and Rodriguez reportedly continue to negotiate with a final purchase price expected to be around $1.5 billion.

Afflalo was initially part of a bid to purchase the team last July, with the 35-year-old considered the "face of the group," per Pat Graham and Dave Campbell of the Associated Press. Venture capitalist Brock Berglund was considered the primary financial backer of the group.

Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported in September the group "is confident it has the financial means and long-term vision" to have a successful bid.

The challenge could be getting ahead of Lore and Rodriguez, who continue to negotiate for ownership.

As Windhorst noted, Taylor has had several exclusive negotiating windows over the last decade without actually selling the team, including recently with Daniel Straus.

Afflalo never played for the Timberwolves, but he is well-known around the NBA as an 11-year NBA veteran who competed for six different organizations. He retired in 2018 with $58.7 million in career earnings, per Spotrac.

His best individual season came with the Orlando Magic, averaging 18.2 points per game in 2013-14, but he finished his career with an average of 10.8 points per game and was respected for his work on the defensive end.