If anybody knows exactly what the Vikings are going to do in the 2024 NFL Draft, please stand up.

Though the expectation is that they are going to make a blockbuster move in a couple of weeks, trading up to take their quarterback of the future in the draft, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah delivered a dose of reality on Thursday at TCO Performance Center in Eagan.

Is there a world in which the Vikings don’t select a quarterback in the first round?

“You have to be ready for everything,” Adofo-Mensah said. “You have to be ready for every scenario.”

The fact is the Vikings have the No. 11 pick, and thus, they don’t control their own destiny in the 2024 draft. Never mind that they recently acquired the No. 23 pick to give themselves more ammunition. They still need another team to play ball in order to put themselves in position to draft a quarterback like North Carolina’s Drake Maye, LSU’s Jayden Daniels or Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

How much is that going to cost?

“I wish I knew the answer to that question,” Adofo-Mensah said. “That’s the hardest part. You’re in a blind auction in a sense, right?. You don’t know when the next person is gonna raise their hand and call a name.”

That’s a phenomenon the Vikings understand as they contemplate the viability of trading up. It’s not going to be as simple as Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell looking at a spreadsheet to determine value. Truthfully, a team like the New England Patriots, who have the No. 3 pick, or the Arizona Cardinals, who have the No. 4 pick, are likely well aware that they have an extremely valuable asset in their current draft positioning.

That’s why the Vikings are trying their best to operate in a vacuum. If they aren’t willing to pay a particular price, they can’t concern themselves with what other teams might be willing to do.

“It’s always about walk-away prices,” Adofo-Mensah said. “Your only leverage in the negotiation is the willingness to do something else. I’ve got to say, ‘I will not do this because I would rather do these three other things and make our team better.’ It’s got to mean something.”

There’s also the other side of the coin in that if the Vikings get their guy, and he turns out to be a star, nobody is going to think twice about the initial price tag. You think the Kansas City Chiefs care how much they had to give up to go get Patrick Mahomes? Not at all.

“You’ve got to ask, ‘Am I going to regret not doing this trade?’ ” Adofo-Mensah said. “That’s how we’ve got to look at the board in every place.”

There’s a chance the Vikings ultimately decide trading up is going to cost too much. If that’s the case, then having the No. 11 pick and the No. 23 pick should still give them an advantage moving forward.

“We want to make sure that we set ourselves up for potential better look if a team picks up the phone,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We also want to set ourselves up for being in a really good situation if they don’t pick up the phone.”

All the Vikings can do at this point is wait to see how everything plays out in a couple of weeks.

“This is something Kevin and I really set in motion when we first got here,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’ve put a lot into it, and we’ll see what happens on draft day.”

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A Ramsey County District Court judge has allowed a legal case to move forward involving the contested sale of controlling interests in Bremer Bank, one of the Midwest’s largest farm lenders, while signaling that key questions have already been settled in favor of the philanthropic trustees who engineered the stock sale.

The judicial order, which calls for mediation in advance of an evidentiary hearing, neither approves nor denies the long-contested stock sale. Instead, it reaffirms that the case will not “relitigate” allegations of trustee misconduct.

In October 2019 the three trustees of the Otto Bremer Trust — one of the state’s oldest philanthropies — sold more than 725,000 “Class B” shares in Bremer Bank, the charity’s largest asset, to 19 East Coast hedge funds, positioning the bank board for takeover and the bank itself for a possible sale.

Bank officials and bank employees responded by filing suit against the three trustees, and individual hedge funds then filed legal action of their own against the bank when the stock sale was frozen.

The result was at least six separate lawsuits and the legal involvement of the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, which regulates charities and accused the trustees of self-dealing.

In April 2022, Judge Robert Awsumb removed Brian Lipschultz as a trustee of Otto Bremer Trust, noting his conduct — including berating the charity’s grantees and running a side business using the philanthropy’s resources — constituted a serious breach of trust.

Lipschultz appealed, but the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court later affirmed his removal.

Awsumb, however, did not give merit to the claim that the three trustees engineered the stock sale to increase their own investment advisory fees. Nor did he take issue with the trustees’ compensation, which he said was within a cap created by the philanthropy’s founding documents. He left the question of the actual stock sale unresolved for consideration at a later date. The Minnesota Attorney General’s office did not appeal Awsumb’s ruling.

Judge Mark Ireland this week ordered the bank board and trustees to schedule mediation in advance of an evidentiary hearing in the case, which he said will not focus on whether the trustees “breached their fiduciary (duties) or abused their discretion” in the October 2019 stock sale.

Calling those issues settled, Ireland said “the court expressly concluded that the trustees’ compensation was reasonable,” though “neither the attorney general’s petition nor the trial order are conclusive and binding on all issues.”

As a result, the trustees’ legal motion for a quick judicial decision, or summary judgment, to immediately approve the October 2019 stock sale “is not appropriate at this time,” Ireland wrote.

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After the Timberwolves’ loss to Denver on Wednesday, which likely cost them the No. 1 seed in the NBA Western Conference playoffs, players discussed ways in which perhaps Karl-Anthony Towns could make a difference in future matchups with the Nuggets.

Because, as Denver coach Mike Malone said postgame, “I have a feeling that we’re probably going to see that team again in the playoffs.”

“I think he helps a lot. They really hurt us on the glass, and it’s a team effort,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert told reporters. “Even if I’m doing my best boxing out, sometimes the cutting in the back or they’re getting some of those boards that really hurt us today. And also on the free-throw line too. I think having KAT, who is a really good rebounder and has a lot of size, would’ve really helped.”

He also takes some pressure off Anthony Edwards’ shoulders as far as being a No. 1 scoring option.

“A lot of credit to Anthony, because the pressure and the attention on him went up, and for the most part I thought he did a really good job of getting off the ball, using his gravity to create offense for his teammates. And now we have another person that draws that type of attention,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told reporters. “KAT gives us another big body out there, for sure — some shooting. We always miss KAT. I don’t think that’s ever in doubt.”

And they’re about to get him back. Everything suggests Towns will return to action this weekend at Target Center — either Friday against Atlanta or, at the latest, Sunday in the regular-season finale against Phoenix.

Towns’ return instantly makes Minnesota’s roster more talented. The big man returns to a team that has played well in his absence. The Wolves are 12-6 in the 18 games since Towns went down with his torn meniscus. Over their last 18 games, the Wolves sports the NBA’s eighth-best offense, fourth-best defense and fourth-best net rating

The offense is what has surged over the past month, which is a bit of a surprise when you lose your second-best scorer. But Minnesota has found a true offensive rhythm in Towns’ absence, one founded upon ample ball and player movement. That has sparked more aggression and production from the likes of Jaden McDaniels, Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid as the Wolves have formed a well-rounded offensive attack.

“I think him being out has allowed everyone to step up and play and have roles and get going for the postseason. I think the postseason definitely shows — and my career is a testament to that — that you never know what you might need. And just being able to be available and be providing, guys stepping up big, it’s good to get their game reps now,” Alexander-Walker said. “Guys like J-Mac have been huge since Karl has been out — Monte, myself, Naz and what he’s doing in his role. So I think adding Karl will be a huge help for us, make us more of a threat to make a deeper run.”

The key now for Minnesota is to maintain its rhythmic, equal-opportunity offense while incorporating Towns back into the lineup. The Wolves’ offense was static for much of the season, never quite delivering the results to match up with the talent.

That issue has been resolved over the past month. Can that continue with Towns — who, for all of his abilities, has been known to hold the ball for too long on occasion — back on the court?

“Obviously he’s extremely talented. We need him to be a very good version of himself, but also I think there are certainly some things that we’ve figured out in the last couple of weeks that we’re going to need him to kinda lean into as well,” Finch said. “It might be slightly different than the rhythm in which we were playing before he left. So there is a few things there, but we’ve already talked about some of that stuff. He’s actually seen it before we even talked about it. He was the first to kinda bring it up, some of the things that he’s noticed, which has been great. So yeah, that’s one more reason we’re excited and hopeful to have him out there soon. We can get to work on that.”

That’s why Towns returning prior to the playoffs is so valuable for the Wolves. He can knock off rust and Minnesota can work out kinks before it is truly showtime. And, with the No. 1 seed likely out of reach, that can all be done under slightly less pressure.

Because as Finch noted, there will be hiccups along the way. Reintegration is rarely seamless. But given the current date on the calendar, things need to take shape quickly. Even if Minnesota’s ceiling is higher with Towns, the Wolves can’t afford even one step backward before leaping in the right direction.

“KAT’s gotta really kinda lean into just making that easy, quick play. We’ve seen how teammates … everyone is benefiting from it and they’re stepping up. And hopefully, Ant can benefit from the gravity of KAT, and vice versa,” Finch said. “And that we didn’t always have during the regular season. So hopefully now we see it and we believe in it a little bit more.”

“Offensively, yeah, just bringing his unique talent that we miss. That’s gonna be great for us,” Gobert said. “But also spacing for his teammates. Keep the offense flowing like it’s been flowing. And you add his talent to that offense, it can be pretty special.”

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San Francisco-based Afar magazine has just released its list of the 31 best new hotels around the world. It’s a rundown certain to inspire wanderlust, even if you weren’t planning to visit, say, Winston Churchill’s London digs or the highlands of Iceland anytime soon.

But if you were, Afar’s editors suggest Iceland’s Highland Base Kerlingarfjöll. The sleek Nordic retreat about three hours from Reykjavík is run by the same team behind the Retreat at Blue Lagoon. And the new Raffles London at the OWO nestles 120 guest rooms and suites inside the historic Edwardian building that once served as Winston Churchill’s Old War Office — that’s the OWO reference.

California gets a nod for The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern in Los Olivos, a 19th-century stagecoach stop and tavern that is now a luxurious 67-room Auberge Resort in the heart of Santa Barbara wine country.

And if you’re planning a Hawaii getaway, Afar’s list includes the post-tsunami reimagining of Kona Village, now a Rosewood Resort on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawai‘i with individual thatched-roof hales, a cultural center, swimming pools and four restaurants and bars spread across 81 acres of dramatic, volcanic landscape.

Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort, opened on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawai‘i last year. (Courtesy Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort)

Here’s a peek at the North American hotels and resorts on the list. Find all 31, along with details and photos at www.afar.com and on newstands April 23.

Best New North American Hotels

The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Los Olivos

Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort, Island of Hawai‘i

The Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York City

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Ambiente Sedona, Sedona, Arizona

ULUM Moab, Moab, Utah

Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, Jalisco, Mexico

Maroma, a Belmond Hotel, Riviera Maya, Mexico