Future of the Trailblazers

[red_power]

Right now clock is ticking until new Vulcan ownership finds out Blazers are about to pay some hefty tax paychecks next summer so they can dramatically reduce their expenses by ordering Olshey to unload some salary.

[Epicurus]

I'm sorry. Has anyone here seen Allen's will or living trust? How protected is his estate from tax? Didn't articles mention he set up surviving operations for his foundations and sports teams? What are the ownership requirements of the NBA? Specifically can it not belong to a foundation? This is a 20 billion dollar or so estate. Many options for distributions exist, don't they? This is not your grandpa's estate.

[Ripcity4life]

I never said it was good -- if i mis -spoke or worded it wrong i am sorry

All i ment was if there is any silver lining or maybe something for lack of a better word "good" that could come from a new owner. I hate the fact he died cause now were in pure speculation mode and fan fears will start to take over. Also maybe it was a tad too soon to say that even though i believe what i said.

Now we go into a time of unknowns and such and a time where the blazers could turn into the Milwaukee bucks or Kings or insert smaller market team.

[Vega]

While this isn’t my perspective a lot of people outside of the PNW view Portland as almost a suburb of Seattle. Portlander fandom towards the Sea Hawks and Mariners kind of supports that. Fan support however does not go in the opposite direction. So I could see someone trying to capture both markets through a move. Also, there’s a very strong correlation between market size and team value. Seattle is definitely larger, meaning the team would most likely be worth more after relocating.

I’m not saying that they would move or that it’s at all likely, only that I could see why it might be attractive.

[Wizenheimer]

here's an article that was written in 2016 about Portland moving to Seattle

first off, it was in reaction to a crapzano column, so there's that. And all the assumptions were based upon PA still owning the team; so you'd have to insert new ownership and see if the arguments would still apply

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2016/06/23/the-multiple-reasons-to-ignore-talk-of-the-trail-blazers-relocating-to-seattle/#686698e127d0

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speaking of the crap man, he did pen a nice little homage to Allen in his latest column:

The Blazers got swept in the playoffs last April. The Pelicans blew the season out like a candle. But what I'll remember most about Game 4 wasn't Anthony Davis scoring 47 points or Jrue Holiday adding 41, but what Allen did after the game.

As he walked toward the exit of the building, he stopped to sign an autograph for a fan waiting there. Then, another. And another. A 10-year old Pelicans fan named Ty stepped up and asked the 65-year old Blazers owner if he wouldn't mind posing for a photograph.

Allen stopped on the railing and posed with the kid. You wouldn't have known Allen's team was headed home for the summer. Classy move. It didn't look like a billionaire and a kid. No, for a moment, it was just two NBA fans who love the game, snapping a picture together. (That photo here.)

We'll spend the next few days sorting through Allen's legacy. Billionaire. Visionary. Sports owner. Inventor. Philanthropist. Developer. And in the end, he was also beautifully human.

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2018/10/canzano_paul_allen_is_dead.html

Read on Twitter

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and, Dave Deckard does a good job of 'remembering Allen:

https://www.blazersedge.com/2018/10/15/17982076/paul-allen-death-history-eulogy-trail-blazers-memories

[d-train]

Time is going to eventually put to rest all the fears and speculation. When the dust settles Blazers will stay in Portland, we will have a new rich owner, and our team will continue its long tradition of being well managed and competitive.

[d-train]

The stupidity of Portland's political leaders seems limitless. But, they are not as stupid as they look and act. Most important, they have what happened to Seattle as a model for where their dumbest instincts will take them.

[JasonStern]

Right now clock is ticking until new Vulcan ownership finds out Blazers are about to pay some hefty tax paychecks next summer so they can dramatically reduce their expenses by ordering Olshey to unload some salary.

this should probably be the biggest short-term concern for Blazers fans. remember all of those "Blazers need to give up picks/prospects to dump salary" T&T board posts that Blazers fans casually replied with "we have one of the richest owners in sports that loves the draft - we'll be fine"? well, that's over. and now that the team is likely going to be auctioned off, getting the financial obligations in check is very likely going to take precedence over a first round playoff appearance and a mid-to-late 1st round draft pick.

and, sadly, that really has the potential to snowball. interim/future management goes cheap, team starts losing, Dame/McCollum get disgruntled at wasting away their prime and consider leaving, fan morale is low, new/potential new ownership plays the "buy me a new stadium or else" game, chance of the team leaving in 2023-2025.

[Village Idiot]

The stupidity of Portland's political leaders seems limitless. But, they are not as stupid as they look and act. Most important, they have what happened to Seattle as a model for where their dumbest instincts will take them.

Portland's politicians aren't perfect by any means but you need to keep things in perspective. People are flocking to the city of Portland and our problems are the kind of problems most city's would kill for. Managing growth is preferable to managing decline or stagnation. Our violent crime rate is at the level of Canadian or European cities. Our schools could be a lot better but are a heck of a lot better than those of other mid sized US cities. A lot of the problems that plague us like homelessness, mental health and drug addiction are best addressed at the national level, especially given Oregonians lack of interest in paying a sales tax.

If our civic leaders should chose find themselves in a situation where they have to choose between spending $1 billion to keep the Blazers in Portland to bail out a billionaire or eliminating homelessness I would not fault them for choosing the latter.

[zzaj]

Right now clock is ticking until new Vulcan ownership finds out Blazers are about to pay some hefty tax paychecks next summer so they can dramatically reduce their expenses by ordering Olshey to unload some salary.

this should probably be the biggest short-term concern for Blazers fans. remember all of those "Blazers need to give up picks/prospects to dump salary" T&T board posts that Blazers fans casually replied with "we have one of the richest owners in sports that loves the draft - we'll be fine"? well, that's over. and now that the team is likely going to be auctioned off, getting the financial obligations in check is very likely going to take precedence over a first round playoff appearance and a mid-to-late 1st round draft pick.

and, sadly, that really has the potential to snowball. interim/future management goes cheap, team starts losing, Dame/McCollum get disgruntled at wasting away their prime and consider leaving, fan morale is low, new/potential new ownership plays the "buy me a new stadium or else" game, chance of the team leaving in 2023-2025.

This, exactly.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Meanwhile Seattle is on the way to building or renovating a modern facility more suitable for the NBA and NHL.

There’s a lot of sentiment towards Seattle deserving of a team.

It would be brutal if the Blazers were moved to Seattle out of all places.

Portland has supported the team very well and there has to be a PNW rivalry between the two cities too, right?

They won't move to Seattle. It'd be the most pointless thing ever. New owner buys team only to move it up the road.. pissing off all the fans in Oregon and losing that market to gain back a market that is slowly converting to watching the Blazers.

No.

Seattle has adopted the Warriors. We still hate our rivals down south. Sorry Portland!

The Blazers aren't moving fwiw. I'd love to be wrong (for selfish reasons). But, the Blazers belong in Portland.

Haha, I always thought of our cities like brothers.. rivals when its just us but stand together against the rest of the world.

Oh well, guess the Warriors bandwagon was just too big for you to support your most local team.

[Blazinaway]

Right now clock is ticking until new Vulcan ownership finds out Blazers are about to pay some hefty tax paychecks next summer so they can dramatically reduce their expenses by ordering Olshey to unload some salary.

this should probably be the biggest short-term concern for Blazers fans. remember all of those "Blazers need to give up picks/prospects to dump salary" T&T board posts that Blazers fans casually replied with "we have one of the richest owners in sports that loves the draft - we'll be fine"? well, that's over. and now that the team is likely going to be auctioned off, getting the financial obligations in check is very likely going to take precedence over a first round playoff appearance and a mid-to-late 1st round draft pick.

and, sadly, that really has the potential to snowball. interim/future management goes cheap, team starts losing, Dame/McCollum get disgruntled at wasting away their prime and consider leaving, fan morale is low, new/potential new ownership plays the "buy me a new stadium or else" game, chance of the team leaving in 2023-2025.

This is what I fear most

[Det the Threat]

Seattle has adopted the Warriors. We still hate our rivals down south. Sorry Portland!

The Blazers aren't moving fwiw. I'd love to be wrong (for selfish reasons). But, the Blazers belong in Portland.

Seattle hasn't adopted any team at all and is waiting for the Sonics to come back.
The most cringeworthy thing of that preseason game at the Key was that Warriors DJ screaming about everyone shown that "Seattle is Warriors Land" and everyone just rolling their eyes and looking stone faced at him.

The Blazers are going to stay in Portland(as they should) and we hopefully will have that I-5 rivalry back pretty soon.

[tester551]

Right now clock is ticking until new Vulcan ownership finds out Blazers are about to pay some hefty tax paychecks next summer so they can dramatically reduce their expenses by ordering Olshey to unload some salary.

this should probably be the biggest short-term concern for Blazers fans. remember all of those "Blazers need to give up picks/prospects to dump salary" T&T board posts that Blazers fans casually replied with "we have one of the richest owners in sports that loves the draft - we'll be fine"? well, that's over. and now that the team is likely going to be auctioned off, getting the financial obligations in check is very likely going to take precedence over a first round playoff appearance and a mid-to-late 1st round draft pick.

and, sadly, that really has the potential to snowball. interim/future management goes cheap, team starts losing, Dame/McCollum get disgruntled at wasting away their prime and consider leaving, fan morale is low, new/potential new ownership plays the "buy me a new stadium or else" game, chance of the team leaving in 2023-2025.

While I appreciate and sympathize with this thought, I cahn't help to think this is a bit like Chicken Little.

Blazers will continue to operate under the status quo for the rest of this year & will end up paying the tax.

It will take until spring/summer until a sale can be consummated. At that point, Blazers only have 1 more year of 'bad contracts', and Portland will be below the luxury tax so the new owners can decide how to proceed from there.

While it sucks loosing an owner who is a major fan, it's also not the end of the world.

[Cactus Jack]

They won't move to Seattle. It'd be the most pointless thing ever. New owner buys team only to move it up the road.. pissing off all the fans in Oregon and losing that market to gain back a market that is slowly converting to watching the Blazers.

No.

Seattle has adopted the Warriors. We still hate our rivals down south. Sorry Portland!

The Blazers aren't moving fwiw. I'd love to be wrong (for selfish reasons). But, the Blazers belong in Portland.

Haha, I always thought of our cities like brothers.. rivals when its just us but stand together against the rest of the world.

Oh well, guess the Warriors bandwagon was just too big for you to support your most local team.

Spoiler:

Portland isn't local.

[PDXKnight]

I have to think Adam silver would override any attempt to move the Blazers out of Portland..

[Cactus Jack]

Seattle has adopted the Warriors. We still hate our rivals down south. Sorry Portland!

The Blazers aren't moving fwiw. I'd love to be wrong (for selfish reasons). But, the Blazers belong in Portland.

Seattle hasn't adopted any team at all and is waiting for the Sonics to come back.
The most cringeworthy thing of that preseason game at the Key was that Warriors DJ screaming about everyone shown that "Seattle is Warriors Land" and everyone just rolling their eyes and looking stone faced at him.

The Blazers are going to stay in Portland(as they should) and we hopefully will have that I-5 rivalry back pretty soon.

I'm just saying that most Seattle fans would rather root for the Warriors than the Blazers if we're being honest here.

KD leaving OKC certainly helped matters. You'll see a lot more Warriors gear now around town.

[JasonStern]

Blazers will continue to operate under the status quo for the rest of this year & will end up paying the tax.

we'll see. interim ownership is a for-profit business, not an enthusiastic owner. tough from a business standpoint to justify paying luxury tax for a .500 team when you can, at a minimum, dump a player like Aminu to get under the tax.

that said, Bert Kolde is still with Vulcan, and still vice chairman of the Blazers. and Chris McGowan is still in the picture. so it's entirely possible that the status quo remains during the interim ownership period. but the status quo still moved Plumlee for Nurkić, Vonleh for Raković, etc. in order to keep out of the luxury tax.

I have to think Adam silver would override any attempt to move the Blazers out of Portland..

if the franchise moves, it won't be overnight. Blazers will be fine at least through 2023 - there have been numerous posts outlining the business reasons why. and there's really no point in worrying about it until the franchise is sold and we can get a feel for the new owner(s)' intentions. the bad news is that there really aren't people with Portland/Oregon ties that are both rich and motivated enough to buy the Blazers. the good news is there are really only a few places where the Blazers could theoretically relocate to - Seattle, Las Vegas, Kansas City, St. Louis... unless maybe you think the bay area could handle two teams despite their close proximity to Sacramento or think the NBA would want to try a second team in Canada again, only Seattle is a larger market. so really just hope that the future owners don't have Washington or Canada ties... or are a for profit corporation.

[zzaj]

No.

Seattle has adopted the Warriors. We still hate our rivals down south. Sorry Portland!

The Blazers aren't moving fwiw. I'd love to be wrong (for selfish reasons). But, the Blazers belong in Portland.

Haha, I always thought of our cities like brothers.. rivals when its just us but stand together against the rest of the world.

Oh well, guess the Warriors bandwagon was just too big for you to support your most local team.

Spoiler:

Portland isn't local.

Right...which is why he said "most local". 150 miles vs. 800 isn't rocket science. But Golden State is apparently "local" enough for you and the rest of Seattle's bandwagon fans.

In any case I hope you guys get the Sonics back...I could never stand the Sonics, but I really felt for true Seattle fans when the team left.

EDIT: ...and I get what you are saying re: Seattle fans not rooting for the Blazers. If the roles were reversed and Portland lost a team while the Sonics stayed in Seattle, no way would I have just jumped to being a Sonics fan because they were the closest team by distance.

Personally, if a team doesn't represent the city I live in, I have no reason to be a fan.

[Cactus Jack]

Haha, I always thought of our cities like brothers.. rivals when its just us but stand together against the rest of the world.

Oh well, guess the Warriors bandwagon was just too big for you to support your most local team.

Spoiler:

Portland isn't local.

Right...which is why he said "most local". 150 miles vs. 800 isn't rocket science. But Golden State is apparently "local" enough for you and the rest of Seattle's bandwagon fans.

In any case I hope you guys get the Sonics back...I could never stand the Sonics, but I really felt for true Seattle fans when the team left.

EDIT: ...and I get what you are saying re: Seattle fans not rooting for the Blazers. If the roles were reversed and Portland lost a team while the Sonics stayed in Seattle, no way would I have just jumped to being a Sonics fan because they were the closest team by distance.

Personally, if a team doesn't represent the city I live in, I have no reason to be a fan.

I think the biggest issue I had was initially when the team left town. The Blazers organization at that time, tried to take up the Seattle market by televising games locally & trying to persuade fans to jump on the bandwagon. The problem however was that most fans we're fed up & wanted nothing to do with the NBA at that point. I certainly was one of them.

After the Sonics left, I pretty much boycotted the league & chose to ignore it for a few years (like many others around here). It really wasn't until talk of a team potentially returning (via the Kings saga) did my interest & curiosity begin again. Seattle lost out, but it appeared our prospects we're improving (albeit marginally).

I wasn't a fan of any particular team, but I definitely had a rooting interest (for 29 other teams).

But, when KD signed with the Warriors, I finally had a team that I could get fully behind. A bandwagon I'm more than willing to jump on!