Alex Rodriguez, Glen Taylor reach agreement, sale of Wolves and Lynx nears finish line

Glen Taylor has been close a few times to selling his stake of the Timberwolves, but no deal has crossed the finish line.

That has changed.

Taylor, 80, has an agreement for the $1.5 billion sale of the Wolves and Lynx to former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and tech entrepreneur Marc Lore.

The Wolves and Lynx, on Friday morning, released this statement: "Glen Taylor has reached an agreement with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez regarding the sale and future ownership of the Timberwolves and Lynx. The transaction will close following league approval, beginning the transition of ownership and a new chapter of Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx basketball."

The sides previously agreed to a 30-day exclusive negotiating window last month, but talks between the sides never ceased when that window expired nor were there any major stumbling blocks to getting a deal done.

The next step in the process will be to have the NBA approve the sale, which is likely to take weeks.

Rodriguez and Lore are 50-50 partners in the deal, according to a source.

Taylor has said any deal involving the sale of the Wolves would include a commitment to keep the team in Minnesota.

It's unclear how enforceable such language in a contract would be, but Taylor also said the NBA would have to approve any move and the league does not want to move the Wolves out of Minnesota.

"They will keep the team here, yes. We will put it in the agreement," Taylor said last month. "At this point we have a letter of intent, but when we make up the contract we'll put that in there. That's no problem. That won't be a problem."

Taylor founded Taylor Corporation, which oversees printing and marketing businesses, and Forbes estimated his net worth at $1.8 billion.

At one point Taylor, who also owns the Star Tribune, had an exclusive negotiating window with former Grizzlies minority owner Daniel Straus that didn't materialize.