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Phil Knight, Alan Smolinisky make bid to purchase Trail Blazers

Portland’s NBA franchise might have a new ownership group.

By Chinmay Vaidya
Allen And Company Annual Meeting Brings Business Executives, Media Moguls, And Politicians To Sun Valley, Idaho
Nike co-founder Phil Knight walks to a morning session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 08, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho. After a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, and technology worlds will converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive week-long conference.
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

There’s a bid from Nike founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers per Adrian Wojnarowski. The offer is reportedly north of $2 billion, which is in line with what professional sports teams have been going for recently.

The Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves recently changed ownership groups, with the franchises going for $1.7 billion and $1.5 billion respectively. The $2 billion sticker price would represent a sizable jump considering Portland’s market size, so there’s a reason Paul Allen’s trust overseeing ownership will consider this bid.

The Trail Blazers are a natural fit for Knight, a University of Oregon alum who is funneling Nike money into the athletics program at Eugene. He’d immediately infuse cash into the team, but the Blazers still have some market limitations working against them when it comes to competing in the NBA.

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