The Wilf family emerges as the best candidate to buy Timberwolves

The Wilf family who own the Minnesota Vikings have become a strong candidate to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves, NFL sources have told ESPN.

It was only recently that the Wilfs emerged as one of the groups seeking to buy the NBA team in their hometown from billionaire Glen Taylor, sources say. There are several bidders for the team, including New York Metropolitan real estate developer Meyer Orbach, who bought a minority stake in the Timberwolves in 2016. Former Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett also said he was forming a group to try to buy the team.

But the Wilfs appear to be in a prime position right now to buy the Timberwolves, although a decision on the sale won’t be made until September, sources say.

Taylor has owned the team since 1994, when he bought it for around $ 88 million. He retained the services of the Raine group to sell the franchise. He’s looking for at least $ 1.2 billion for the team which has been valued at nearly $ 1.4 billion.

Taylor told Athletic he wouldn’t sell the team to a group that wants to move it out of Minneapolis.

“People have asked who are interested but they want to move the team,” he said. “They are not candidates. We made it very clear.”

The Wifs bought the Vikings from Red McCombs in 2005 for $ 600 million. The value of the NFL franchise would now likely be well over $ 3 billion. Zygi Wilf is the primary owner of the Vikings, Mark Wilf is the president and co-owner, and Leonard Wilf is co-owner and vice-president. They’ve been active in Minnesota, getting the US Bank Stadium built, building a state-of-the-art Viking training facility, and then last month they donated $ 5 million to various causes of social justice – on top of the $ 5 million they donated to help COVID-19.

Now their reach and power in Minnesota could be expanding. They are in pursuit of a Timberwolves team that would give their family a sports empire in Minnesota.