paul allen's motives

He still has an exclusive site agreement with the City of Portland for one thing.

Unless he's willing to fund it himself, I don't see a NBA arena (one more suitable for NBA economics than the Key) being built in the Seattle area anytime soon.

And I don't think the good folks at Emmert International, even if they could, would be willing to haul the Rose Garden up I-5.  :)

I believe Paul Allen owning the arena outright makes it less likely that he'll move the team. What's he going to do, turn around and sell it (without the team) for a 10% profit? I don't think so.

And if the Sonics have been having such a hard time with the legislature up in WA, why would Paul think he could fare any better? I think Paul understands that the Blazers are deeply woven into the Portland fabric, and I don't think he has the chutzpa to break the city's collective heart like that. But most important, I really believe that Paul loves the Blazers--this is not simply a business proposition for him, unlike the new ownership group in Seattle--and loving the Blazers means doing what's best for the franchise, which is to leave it in Portland.

Seattle may be home to PA, but Portland is the home to the Trailblazers.  If there is one thing that has finally broken through to the kid inside of the Blazer's Illustrious owner, it's that a team thrives when it is loved by it's fans.  Pure and simple.  The true depths of Portland's love for the Blazers has, will and always shall be one of the shinning stars of the NBA and Paul Allen recognizes this.  This team is not about the money, but the joy of building a winner in a community filled with love for the game.  

The emotional and financial rewards for Allen will be much greater by keeping this team in Portland, than it would be if he moved the team to Seattle.  

There is a bigger fan base in Portland, for the Trailblazers, than there is in Seattle for the Sonics.  By beating the odds in a smaller market and challenging the bigger markets, Allen has an opportunity to support the underdog.  And we all know fans love the underdogs.

For Paul Allen, I don't get the sense that this is about money.  I also feel that he considers the Blazers more than just a hobby.  He's shown over the years that he has a love for the game, that would be more than tainted if he decided to pick up and move the team, even to Seattle.  

If you start from the bottom and make it to the top, it is so much sweeter than if you start at the top.  If you start at the top, it's only down hill from there.  When Paul Allen bought this team, we were a player away from making it deep into the playoffs.  Now, with 20 years of ownership under his belt, he has an opportunity to build his team from scratch, nurture the fan base and really provide an opportunity for a little piece of history.  This time, however, he gets to grow as a Portland fan and be amazed at the progress, just like the rest of us.

Even for a Billionaire, it still feels good to earn the things you get.

Those are the "home teams" for Portland--most Portland friends of mine who have
a favorite NFL or MLB team claims those teams as their own.

So, in a Sonics-less pacific northwest, the Portland Trail Blazers
would become the home team for the Puget Sound area as well, including Seattle.
Paul Allen knows this, and is looking forward to selling beaucoup red-and-black
Roy jerseys in all the myriad corners of Seattle and points surrounding.
I could see, MAYBE, the occasional game or two per season played in the Seattle area.
That's about as much as he'd do--gravy-train the SeaTac market on behalf of
what will always be the Portland Trail Blazers.

(Makes one wonder if he saw the OKC situation coming ahead of time
when he started riding the Seattle talent train, with Martell, then Nate, and then Roy.
Just don't take Hawes, unless he's still available in the second round,
which he would be in an ideal universe . . . )

that the Blazers move to Seattle.  And because PA could get Seattle's TV rights without actually having to move the team there, there is even less incentive to do it.  That's on top of the exclusive site agreement, the fact that there's no arena in Seattle, and how stupid it would be to break up a sports monopoly in a city of Portland's size.

Only Blazer games you'll be seeing in Seattle is a preseason game.  The Portland Trail Blazers will remain the PORTLAND Trail Blazers.

and the above arguements don't let it rest.  Is the Key Arena crumbling, dangerous?  Blazers played in the substandard Memorial Coliseum for years until PA built us the Rose Garden.  If he sold the Blazers, what would stop him from building another in Seattle?  Owning both parts  makes the team easier to sell - that was made clear when he was testing the market earlier. And as far as his learning that Portland loves the Blazers - I don't know that he truly understands the depth of that love - and I'm not sure that would make a difference if he could have the team in his backyard and have the players over for a little shootaround after dinner ...  I don't obsess over it, but whenever I think of it there is a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.  The only thing that will set me at ease is that Seattle has a team or that PA sells the Blazers to a group that will respect what we have here (e.g. local owners or Terry Porter's group.)

Since the Sonics are clearly falling apart from the top down, why doesn't PA just buy them, bankrupt them, sell off all the spare parts, and then move Rashard down to Portland?