In 2018, Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen died after a battle with cancer. Ever since, a trust, headed by his sister Jody Allen, has operated the two franchises, but there is a report from John Canzano that it was written by Paul Allen that after his death his trust must liquidate all assets, including selling the Blazers and Seahawks.
On the heels of that reporting a week ago, word broke on Thursday from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Nike founder Phil Knight and Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky have put in a written offer to purchase the team for a price of over $2 billion.
Nike founder Phil Knight and Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky have made a $2 billion-plus written offer to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell ESPN. Discussions are ongoing with the Paul Allen trust that’s overseeing ownership of team. Story soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 2, 2022
That is about the going rate for an NBA franchise these days, as the Timberwolves sale to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez’s group went for $1.5 billion. Most importantly to Blazers fans is that Knight’s presence in this particular prospective ownership group is that his deep Portland ties would indicate he would keep the team in Portland, while there were rumblings (as is the case any time a team in a smaller market is up for sale) that new ownership could explore relocating the franchise.
It would seem that won’t be the case should the Knight-Smolinisky group’s bid be chosen, as Nike’s headquarters are in Beaverton, Oregon and Knight is the most famous University of Oregon graduate there is. New ownership could breathe new life into the organization that is currently trying to rebuild itself on the fly, with a lot of new players and a new GM, but the expectation that they’ll be looking to be playoff bound again next year with Damian Lillard returning from injury.