Rodriguez, Lore bid for Timberwolves

Former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and ecommerce mogul Marc Lore signed a letter of intent Saturday to buy the Timberwolves and keep the NBA franchise in Minnesota, owner Glen Taylor said.

The agreement, which also includes the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, opens a 30-day window for negotiations to be finalized.

Under the conditions of the deal, Taylor would keep control of the club for the next two years and bring on Rodriguez and Lore as partners until a handover in 2023.

The Athletic first reported the sale, which would be worth $1.5 billion.

Taylor, who put the teams on the market last year, said he was first approached by Rodriguez and Lore a week ago. The pair traveled to meet Taylor and his wife at their winter home in Naples, Florida. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Taylor said he told all interested parties throughout the sale process that keeping the franchises in town was a prerequisite for purchase.

“There was no use talking to them if they didn’t agree to that,” the 79-year-old Taylor said.

Rodriguez and Lore are 50-50 partners in the deal, Taylor said.

JAZZ 128, KINGS 112 » Donovan Mitchell scored 14 of his season-high 42 points in the fourth quarter and the Utah Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings, extending their franchiserecord home winning streak to 24 games. 76ERS 117, THUNDER 93 » Joel Embiid had 27 points and nine rebounds and Philadelphia beat Oklahoma City to pull even with Brooklyn for the Eastern Conference lead. RAPTORS 135, CAVALIERS 115 » Gary Trent Jr. scored a career-high 44 points and severely short-handed Toronto scored a franchiserecord 87 first-half points to rout Cleveland.

Trent made 17 of 19 field goals, including shooting 7 of 9 from 3-point range, and went 3 of 3 from the foul line in 33 minutes.