>> Don’t be surprised if Grand Casino Mille Lacs this summer succeeds Xcel Energy Center after 25 years as the Wild arena’s corporate naming rights holder.

>> There is only a slight chance, about 5%, that Glen Taylor — after having lost in arbitration — will be able to retain ownership of the Timberwolves and Lynx. That chance will depend on whether NBA owners determine that principal buyers Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez by themselves don’t have the wherewithal to buy the teams for the original $1.5 billion price.

The problem for Taylor is that Lore and Rodriguez were able to add Michael Bloomberg and Eric Schmidt to their purchase package, and they certainly have the resources — Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, and Schmidt, the former Google CEO, have a combined worth estimated at $125 billion.

>> It could be interesting, though, if Bloomberg and Schmidt ultimately end up running the Wolves-Lynx.

>> At the recent playoff games against the Lakers at Target Center, Taylor and wife Becky were in their regular courtside seats near the Wolves bench. The pair will retain those seats for 10 years, as well as ownership of an arena suite, as part of a sale arrangement with Rodriguez and Lore.

While Taylor and his wife attended the first-round home playoff games, Rodriguez was highly visible across court in suit and tie. Lore wore jeans, a crew neck shirt and sneakers.

>> Among celebrities at some of the playoff games were Kevin O’Connell, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Dave St. Peter, Niko Medved, Dave Thorson, Justin Jefferson, Napheesa Collier, Josh Duhamel, Ice-T, Aaron Jones, Jordan Addison, Christian Darrisaw, Josh Metellus and P.J. Fleck.

>> Pssst: Taylor, 84, who will be worth nearly $4 billion if he sells the Timberwolves-Lynx, has received several calls seeking his interest in buying the Twins. First, though, he wants his basketball transaction to be finalized.

>> Also in attendance at the Timberwolves playoff was Bill Beise, the Minneapolis stockbroker who, for the first 21 years of the Wolves franchise, was very visible at courtside banging a game program on the floor encouraging the home team.

>> There are several reasons Cretin-Derham Hall grad Tre Holloman opted for North Carolina State rather than remain at Michigan State for his senior basketball season.

The 6-2 point guard, who had a splendid junior season for the Spartans, didn’t enjoy being a backup. And a $1.5 million name, image and likeness (NIL) deal didn’t hurt.

By the way, Holloman didn’t hear a peep from the Gophers when he opted for the NCAA transfer portal five weeks ago.

>> Nolan Groves, the Orono basketball star who decommitted from Yale, has switched to Texas Tech with a $500,000 ($125,000 per year) NIL deal. It was Texas Tech that lured in ex-Gophers guard Elijah Hawkins with a $30,000 per month deal.

>> A little birdie says Jimmy Snuggerud, recently signed by the St. Louis Blues, had a $125,000 NIL deal his final season with the Gophers. Most impactful Gophers last season received NIL stipends of $3,000 a month.

>> The University of St. Thomas’ Kendall Blue is getting a $400,000 NIL deal from Nebraska for his senior season while teammate Mike Barnstable is leaving for $200,000 from Tulsa.

Meanwhile, the Tommies, coming off 24-victory season, have landed 6-3 Nebraska redshirt guard Nick Janowski, 6-5 Tommy Humphries from Furman and 6-6 Isaiah Johnson Arigu from Miami as transfers.

>> The NCAA men’s basketball portal window for next season recently closed after more than 2,000 players had entered. Coaches who know say now it costs between $8 million and $10 million to buy players skilled enough to get to the Final Four.

>> Don’t think that Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle and St Thomas’ Johnny Tauer didn’t chat about the head basketball coaching job that went to Niko Medved this spring.

>> Twins shortstop Carlos Correa ($36 million), the 10th-highest paid player in the major leagues this season, is off to a 25-for-116 (.216) start.

>> Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell next season will have 27 assistants on his staff. Bud Grant, who coached the Vikings to four Super Bowls, had eight assistants.

>> No departing Gophers, including star Dawson Garcia, are among the 75 players invited by the NBA to its Draft Combine May 11-18 in Chicago.

>> Fans criticized the Twins’ February signings of Ty France (.271, three home runs) and Harrison Bader (.267, three home runs), but they’ve been the club’s best hitters.

>> Ex-Viking Adam Thielen, 34, has restructured his Panthers contract for $7.95 million for a final upcoming season.

>> Prayers are welcome for Ron Docken, 76, the former Minneapolis Roosevelt and Gophers goaltender undergoing treatment for a stroke. Docken, who acted in the cult classic Slap Shot film, became a good friend of the movie’s star Paul Newman.

>> Hopkins grad Paige Bueckers, whose NIL deals total more than $1 million, as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by Dallas will play for $78,831 this season.

>> With the bulk of free agency complete, the Vikings are 4-1 odds, tied with the Bears, to win the NFC North next season. But the Lions are favored at 5/4, the Packers next at 5/2, per SportsBetting.ag.

>> St. John’s-Collegeville hit a grand slam with the naming of Dan O’Brien as interim athletics director the other day.

>> The Vikings are focusing on getting the NFL draft for 2029 in Minneapolis. Minnesota Sports Events, intent on acquiring the roving draft, had its group in Green Bay for last week’s event. The NFL will decide on the site of the 2029 draft in 2027.

The 2029 Ryder Cup already is scheduled for Hazeltine National in Chaska.

>> In Green Bay for the draft, some residential businesses near Lambeau Field were charging $300 to park, and a church in the neighborhood was getting $150, per Sportico.

>> Guy to watch: University of St. Thomas junior and Cretin-Derham Hall grad Zach O’Connor, 21, who the other day in St. Cloud won the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves boxing championship at 165 pounds, fights in the national tournament in two weeks in Tulsa, Okla.

“Boxing makes me confident, strong, disciplined, keeps me in shape, and I just enjoy punching people,” he said.

Overheard

>> From a noted former NHL executive on Wild star Kirill Kaprizov, who will be eligible for a contract extension in July: “They should just give him Xcel Energy Center, then buy it back.”