Sources - A-Rod, Lore eyed Wolves payroll cuts, concerning Taylor - ESPN

As part of a failed process to assume majority ownership, Minnesota Timberwolves minority partners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez submitted financial projections forecasting a sizable retreat in roster payroll that majority owner Glen Taylor believed would jeopardize the franchise's ability to compete for a championship, sources told ESPN.

In documents shared with Taylor, the NBA and The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, Lore and Rodriguez rendered a budget projection as potential majority owners that would've lowered the Timberwolves' payroll to $171 million beginning next season — below the projected $172 million luxury tax threshold, sources told ESPN. The Timberwolves would've gone from approximately a $25 million-plus tax payment to a team receiving a tax distribution of approximately $6.5 million.

After decades of futility, the Timberwolves are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and Lore and Rodriguez's cost-cutting projections were among the concerns that led Taylor to void a contract that would've finalized the sale of the Timberwolves and WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, sources told ESPN.

Through separate spokespersons, both Taylor and the Lore-Rodriguez group declined comment. In a recent memo, the NBA instructed both sides to refrain from publicly discussing the dispute, sources said.

At the NBA's Board of Governors meeting Wednesday in New York, commissioner Adam Silver told reporters that the league office had no role in the ownership dispute and that the original sale agreement included a mediation plan for such a situation.

Taylor's decision ended a three-year process that would've concluded with Lore and Rodriguez assuming majority control of the organization this spring.

Minnesota is on course to have