Rumors

Nike co-founder Phil Knight said Wednesday that he is not interested in buying the Portland Trail Blazers, who are up for sale. Paul Allen's estate said Tuesday that it has begun the process of finding a new owner for the team. Allen, the billionaire cofounder of Microsoft who died in 2018, stipulated the eventual sale of his sports properties in his will. There was speculation that Knight, the chairman emeritus of Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike Inc., might step in to buy the Blazers because he had expressed interest a few years back. "Five years ago, when I was a younger man, I had a great interest in being a part of the Portland Trail Blazers franchise. However, at my current age, I can confirm that I no longer have interest in acquiring the team," Knight, 87, said in a statement via Nike.

ESPN

One day after Paul Allen’s estate announced it has started the process of selling the Portland Trail Blazers, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is advocating to keep Portland’s ties to the National Basketball Association. On Wednesday, Sen. Wyden sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, describing Portland — and Oregon’s — love for the Blazers.

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“Portland, Oregon and the NBA have proven a winning combination since 1970 – with the city and our entire state teaming up to be a vital part of the NBA’s DNA for the last 55 years,” Wyden wrote to Silver. “With Trail Blazers ownership announcing its formal sale process of the team this week, I write as Oregon’s senior senator proud to represent my fellow Trail Blazers fans to say there is no place in America with a deeper base of hoops support than in Portland and throughout Oregon.”

KOIN

Shams Charania: Estate of Paul G. Allen is starting a formal sales process for the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell ESPN. Allen & Co and law firm Hogan Lovells leads sales process, is estimated to continue into 2025-26, with all Estate proceeds going to philanthropy, per Paul’s wishes.

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Shams Charania: Trail Blazers sales process is beginning with a formal announcement today – and all money from the sale will go to philanthropic efforts as Paul Allen desired.

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Jonathan Jones: The Portland Trail Blazers are for sale. But in a statement, Paul Allen’s estate makes clear the Seattle Seahawks are not for sale.

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Drexler also contends that Bert Kolde casts a pall over the organization. Kolde, the college roommate of the late Blazer owner Paul Allen at Washington State, has been involved in major decisions for the franchise since Allen purchased the club in 1988. Kolde was part of the decision to fire Drexler’s coach, Rick Adelman, in 1994, a decision that led to Drexler asking for a trade before the following season. Kolde was not a popular figure among Blazer coaches and executives during that time. “Whatever Bert said, Paul listened to,” one former Blazer executive said. “And Bert was in over his head.”

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Rachel Bachman: Paul Allen died 5 years ago and left instructions to sell the Trail Blazers. The NBA requires a team held by an estate to be transferred within a reasonable time period. I asked NBA commissioner Adam Silver if the NBA board had discussed compelling a sale:

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Billionaire Nike co-founder Phil Knight mostly gets what he wants in Oregon, where he is the state’s dominant business figure and philanthropist. Yet for more than a year, he has been unable to get through to Jody Allen, the person who controls the future of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. Allen is the executor of the estate left by her brother, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died of cancer in 2018 with instructions to sell his assets—then valued at more than $20 billion—and donate the vast majority of the proceeds to charity. A spokesman for Jody Allen calls it “likely the most intricate estate in American history.”

Wall Street Journal

A year ago, as the 2022 NBA Finals began, news broke that Knight and Alan Smolinisky, a real-estate investor and minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, had offered $2 billion to buy the Trail Blazers, one of the estate’s most valuable assets. The 85-year-old Knight is concerned about the future of Portland—his hometown which has recently been beset by social problems—and he wants to cement the team’s future there, according to people familiar with Knight and Smolinisky’s plans.

Wall Street Journal

The bid was rejected without a counteroffer or a phone call with Jody Allen, according to people familiar with their interactions. “Phil Knight and I have not spoken,” Jody Allen said in response to questions from The Wall Street Journal last fall. Instead, she had put Knight and Smolinisky in touch with Bert Kolde, the Trail Blazers vice chair and a longtime associate of Paul Allen, who she says delivered the message that “the Trail Blazers remain not for sale.”

Wall Street Journal

So Knight and Smolinisky tried again, according to a person familiar with their plans. On numerous occasions, including earlier this year, they made it clear to Jody Allen that they still wanted to make a deal. They indicated that they realized the price had gone up and that they were willing to pay more than their initial offer, this person said. Again, Knight’s calls to Jody Allen were diverted to Kolde, and nothing came of the brief discussions.

Wall Street Journal

So the question becomes: What other owners might realize that they don’t need to wait and can cash out right away? Certainly, Portland comes to mind. There may be other reasons for Paul Allen’s estate to wait a while longer, but getting a price in the $3 billion to $4 billion range right now could easily trump them. Similarly, Michael Jordan in Charlotte has been whispered about for ages as a potential seller. Though the Hornets haven’t exactly set the league afire, he bought the team for relative peanuts in 2010 (a reported net price of $175 million) and would make a mint on a sale, perhaps 10 times what he paid. New Orleans is another franchise that many insiders mention as a sale candidate, although the search for a local buyer could stymie a transaction. Those are the known knowns, in Rumsfeld-speak.

The Athletic

Portland Trail Blazers: Statement from Jody Allen

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