Wolves potential new ownership may come in too late to impact Warriors

The Minnesota Timberwolves are up for sale. The Warriors have their 2021 first-round pick. Is that a good or bad thing for Golden State?

The Golden State Warriors have the Minnesota Timberwolves 2021 first-round pick.

Although it’s top-three protected, with Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell, it shouldn’t be too difficult for them to finish outside of the league’s bottom three teams as teams like New York, Cleveland, Atlanta and other should be far inferior.

However, the lottery may say differently in 2021 as the Wolves may miss the postseason even with their stars. In the elite Western Conference, making the postseason is no easy accomplishment.

Much of that will depend on what happens with the Wolves ownership this offseason. According to Sportico’s Scott Soshnick, the Timberwolves are for sale. He noted that billionaire owner Glen Taylor has appointed The Raine Group to tell the team, one he’s owned for over 25 years.

What’s sad for Golden State is that new ownership may actually usher in a more consistently winning culture. After all, the Timberwolves, a team that has made the playoffs just once in the past decade and a half, it can’t get much worse.

Just a few seasons ago, the Wolves had Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jimmy Butler among other pieces that helped them secure that postseason appearance on the last game of the season.

They lost Butler and traded Wiggins. Now, whoever buys the team will hope Russell and Towns, a duo that was close prior to teaming up in Minnesota, can take the franchise to the next level.

For Golden State, they’ll hope their dream scenario of Minnesota securing the No. 4 pick in a star-studded 2021 draft class is the reality of new ownership. Both success and failure are certainly possible when the team’s operations change hands.

Taylor, according to Soshnick, is seeking 1.2 billion for the team he purchased for $88 million back in 1994.