Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen loved owning the Portland Trail Blazers, but he had a global perspective on what he wanted from the franchise after his death: His will called for the team to eventually be sold and all the money to be put into charitable efforts.
Tuesday that process started, the Trail Blazers announced.
It’s been known in league circles for a while that this was coming, although the exact timing was always in question. Allen passed away in October of 2018, at which point control of the franchise transferred to Jody Allen, his sister, as well as the trustee of his estate. Jody Allen seemed to enjoy the spotlight of being an owner, and the process to put the team up for sale seemed to drag out longer than Blazers fans would have preferred. It also made some business sense to put the sale off until the new CBA was ratified and the new television deal was in place, upping the price for the franchise.
CNBC’s 2025 NBA franchise valuations listed the Trail Blazers as worth $3.65 billion. That list also had the Boston Celtics listed as worth $5.5 billion, and that team was recently sold to Bill Chisholm and partners for $6.1 billion. How much the Celtics’ sale price might impact the Portland price is hard to say.
Plenty of buyers will likely throw their hat in the ring — Nike founder Phil Knight is known to have interest — but whoever buys the franchise, don’t expect it to be on the move. The NBA is about to bring another team to the Pacific Northwest — Seattle is a lock for an expansion team when the league makes that official — and Adam Silver does not want to lose the one other team in the region. Whoever the new owner is will likely want to look at building a new arena, probably as part of a larger development (a trend around the league).
On the court, the Blazers showed real promise at the end of last season and with that locked up GM Joe Cronin and coach Chauncey Billups with extensions.
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