Nike Founder Phil Knight made a reported $2 billion bid for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, but a team spokesperson insists the club isn’t on the market.
‘An offer was made by Phil Knight,’ read a Trail Blazers statement on Thursday. ‘The team remains not for sale.’
Nike Founder Phil Knight (pictured) made a reported $2 billion bid for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, but a team spokesperson insists the club isn’t on the market
Trail Blazers team owner Paul Allen (left with lifelong friend and fellow Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 2004) passed away in 2018, leaving the team in the hands of his estate
Forbes had previously valued the Blazers at $2.05 billion. Now might be a good time to buy low on the Blazers, considering they’re coming off 27-55 season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013
Forbes had previously valued the Blazers at $2.05 billion.
While the team isn’t officially up for sale, ESPN is reporting that buyers are lining up to buy the Blazers from the Paul Allen Trust. A Microsoft co-founder who went on to buy the club in 1988 for $70 million, Allen passed away at 65 in 2018 after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Allen’s sister Jody has been managing the trust, which also includes the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the possibility of a Blazers sale before Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday in San Francisco. According to Silver, the team will eventually be put on the market.
‘I don’t know all the specifics of Paul Allen’s trust,’ Silver told reporters. ‘What I understand is that Jody Allen, who is Paul Allen’s sister, is the trustee of the estate and that at some point, the team will be sold.
‘I don’t have any sense of the precise timing. I read that same statement today in which she or someone on behalf of the estate said the team is not currently for sale.
‘But at some point it will be for sale. This is a hugely complex estate, and although it’s been several years, these things take time.
‘It will work its way out, but I know Jody and her advisers are very focused on it. As to the timing, that is something her brother left in her hands.’
Silver stressed that he wants the team to remain in Portland, which is one of the league’s smallest markets, but boasts some of the NBA’s most passionate fans.
The team still boasts All-Star point guard Damian Lillard (pictured), but he’s now on the wrong side of 30 and still has at least $88 million owed to him over the next two seasons, and another $48 million in 2024-25 if he decides to pick up his player option
Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Alan Smolinisky submitted a written $2 billion offer, according to reporting by ESPN and The New York Times
The Minnesota Timberwolves – a team that plays in a similarly small market, were recently sold to a group of investors that includes Alex Rodriguez at a price of $1.6 billion.
The 84-year-old Knight is believed to be worth upwards of $50 billion, and he’s well positioned to be owner of the Trail Blazers, given his roots in Oregon, where Nike’s predecessor was founded in 1964.
Allen’s sister Jody (pictured) has been managing the trust that owns the Blazers
Not only was Knight born in Portland, but he attended the University of Oregon and has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the school. Most recently, Nike funded the university’s reported $270 million renovation for the school track and field stadium.
Smolinisky, meanwhile, became a limited partner with the Dodgers in 2019 after a successful career as a commercial real estate investor.
Now might be a good time to buy low on the Blazers, considering they’re coming off 27-55 season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
The team still boasts All-Star point guard Damian Lillard, but he’s now on the wrong side of 30 and still has at least $88 million owed to him over the next two seasons, and another $48 million in 2024-25 if he decides to pick up his player option.
Co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Nike Phil Knight and Senior Vice President of Nike Lynn Merritt are seen during a game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers on October 18, 2018 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland