The trade request from Damian Lillard is not the only thing looming over the future of the Portland Trail Blazers franchise. Jody Allen took over as the owner of the Portland Trail Blazers when her brother Paul passed away in October 2018. This year will mark the five-year anniversary of his passing. Paul Allen’s will stipulated that the component parts of his estate be sold upon his death. That includes a sale of the Trail Blazers. That has not yet happened.
“The board has not discussed compelling a sale of the team,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters after Wednesday’s Board of Governors meeting. “And obviously ‘within a reasonable time’ is subject to interpretation. In the case of Paul Allen’s estate, it’s one of the largest estates in American history, and highly complex in terms of his assets. I’ve spoken directly to Jody Allen, his sister and the trustee of his estate, and they are working through those issues and in the meantime continue to operate the team in a first-class manner.”
The Allen family has owned the Trail Blazers since 1988. Since the passing of Paul Allen, there have been several reports that Phil Knight has been interested in buying the Portland Trail Blazers. Each time, the offer has been rejected and the Trail Blazers ownership has stated that the franchise is not yet for sale.
There’s no true definition of how long, the reasonable time frame is and the sale may not come yet, but there is no reason to believe that it won’t happen. When Allen’s Trust is ready to sell his estate, they’ll have to find a price for the Blazers but the NBA is not forcing a sale to be made.
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