Portland Trail Blazers On the Verge Of Being Sold

On Friday afternoon, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Nike founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky have made a massive offer to buy the Portland Trail Blazers.

The future of the Portland Trail Blazers is very much up-in-the-air at this point and new ownership could be getting ready to take over and lead this organization in a new direction.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Friday afternoon that Nike founder Phil Knight and Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky have made a formal $2 billion-plus written offer to purchase the Trail Blazers franchise.

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

There has been some speculation over the last few months about the team possibly going up for sale, as the late Paul Allen’s trust has overseen different aspects of the team since his death in 2018.

League expansion is a topic that has been brought up a lot in regards to the NBA recently and many have been quick to point out the Trail Blazers as being a team that could possibly relocate. The involvement of Phil Knight looking to buy the team with Smolinisky though should send a clear message that they want to keep the Blazers in Portland long-term.

No official deal has been finalized yet in the possible purchase of the Trail Blazers from Allen’s trust, but there are serious talks ongoing between the two sides on a possible purchase.

Allen's sister, Jody, has managed the trust since her brother's death and along with the potential sale of the Trail Blazers, the potential sale of the Seattle Seahawks has been rumored to be something the trust is interested in moving forward with. 

During the 2021-22 season, the Trail Blazers went 27-55, their worst record since they won just 21 games during the 2005-06 season. This past year marked the first-time that Portland had missed the playoffs since 2013.

While they are a small market team, Forbes valued the Portland Trail Blazers franchise at $2.05 billion in its 2021 rankings, making Portland the 13th most valuable NBA franchise. 

Recently appointing interim general manager Joe Cronin as the team’s full-time general manager, Portland is optimistic that they will be able to get things trending in the right direction once again, especially given that Damian Lillard is still committed to the team and building something long-term.

The Trail Blazers face quite a few massive decisions in the offseason revolving around both free agency and the draft, making the next few months pivotal for them as a franchise.

Now, with the pending sale of the team, these question marks associated with Portland will continue to grow given that there is no set trajectory this organization is trending towards.