Alex Rodriguez hopes to model Timberwolves ownership after Thunder

Anybody who follows the NBA long enough knows how much of a copycat sport it can be. When you see a team crowned as champions, the rest of the league soon follows their blueprint and sees how replicable it can be for their situation.

After the Oklahoma City Thunder captured the Larry O'Brien trophy, the biggest lesson learned was about homegrown talent and patient decisions. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ascended into an MVP after an unorthodox developmental path. He headlined one of the greatest teams ever.

Meanwhile, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren were the crown jewels of the Thunder's rebuild. Both were added from the 2022 NBA draft and have established themselves as long-term staples. Williams was an All-NBA talent and Holmgren has already received DPOY buzz.

Then you look at the rest of the roster, and it's Sam Presti hitting on the margins. Lu Dort was an undrafted player. Cason Wallace was worth his spot in the lottery. Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso were two home-run swings in last year's offseason.

As the Minnesota Timberwolves are fresh off two straight Western Conference Finals appearances, the power dynamic has dramatically shifted. Glen Taylor no longer calls the shots. Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore were finally approved as new NBA owners a couple of days after the NBA Finals ended. It's been quite the adventure, but the ownership group has finally changed.

The former MLB player and Wonder Group CEO agreed with Taylor in 2021 to enter the Timberwolves' ownership group. Four years later, they've won over more power. Now, the duo has the NBA's stamp of approval to make changes.

As Rodriguez and Lore put their fingerprints all over the roster, one of the first steps in molding their ball of clay is by seeing what the Thunder did. Both are small-market franchises with a superstar guard. While Anthony Edwards isn't at Gilgeous-Alexander's level, many expect him to be soon.

Rodriguez and Lore appeared on ESPN's "The Hoop Collective" podcast in Las Vegas during the 2025 Summer League. The former talked about how they want to model the Timberwolves like the Thunder. OKC provided every small-market franchise the blueprint to have similar success with draft and development.

"We want to be very, very disciplined and patient, but with a sense of urgency. We paid the second-highest tax last year. This year we're going to be in the tax again. When we played against Oklahoma City, we had a play-in game three years ago. Shai and all those guys were still young and we beat them at home. It was a very good game," Rodriguez said. "If Sam Presti turned around and was like, 'You know what? Let's break it up. Let's change directions.' They wouldn't have been world champs this year. Then when they got close, they brought in Caruso and a few others. And boom. We look at that as a good model for us. And hey, it pays to be patient."

You always hear about new NBA owner syndrome. Whenever new bosses come to town, they always want to make drastic changes to shake things up. In most cases, they hold zero ties to the current regime and structure. Fanbases are usually anxious about that, as it mostly means splashy decisions that could destabilize a franchise.

But at least in the infancy stage of their ownership tenure, Rodriguez and Lore have said all of the right things. Easier said than done, though, to copy what the Thunder. The 2025 NBA championship was a culmination of two decades' work.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Alex Rodriguez hopes to model Timberwolves ownership after Thunder