Minnesota Timberwolves failed relocation to New Orleans

The events of the attempted relocation resulted in Glen Taylor, businessman and former Minnesota State Senator, purchasing the team and keeping it in Minneapolis.

After their failed courting of the Timberwolves, New Orleans made attempts to lure the Vancouver Grizzlies and Charlotte Hornets to the city in the 2000s.

On February 11, 1994, NBA commissioner David Stern announced that he and his representatives would serve as mediators in an effort to resolve issues related to the debt owed on the Target Center, the Timberwolves home arena.

[2] The Timberwolves ownership was seeking a public or private entity to purchase the $73 million remaining on the arena's mortgage; otherwise, the team would be sold and in all likelihood moved from Minnesota.

[2] Although mediation talks were just beginning to keep the team in place, by the following week it was revealed that ownership had met with representatives from San Diego, Nashville and New Orleans to discuss the potential relocation of the franchise.

This became the case after the potential ownership group Top Rank (as headlined by Fred Hofheinz and Bob Arum) signed a letter of intent to purchase the team and move it to New Orleans if debt issues at the Target Center were not resolved.

[8] While political maneuvering was continuing in Minnesota, by early April it was reported that Nashville had become favored over New Orleans the Timberwolves' relocation.

[10] New Orleans later reemerged as the lead candidate for relocation by the end of April when Top Rank announced a purchase price of $152.5 million.

[16] The filings also identified Fred Hofheinz as the sole Top Rank stockholder, with Houston lawyer John O'Quinn and stockbroker Robert Higley serving as the team's major partners.

[26][27] In the years following the attempt to relocate the Timberwolves, the New Orleans Regional Basketball Alliance sought to lure an existing franchise to the city.