FanPost

what if PA sold the team to PK?

Some people don't think that Paul Allen is preparing to sell the organization. Other people don't want him to. I, am neither of these people.

As a committed fan (I watch almost every single game, regularly listen to our local sports radio programs, and read Blazers news here, at OregonLive, ESPN, Yahoo, and Sports Illustrated) with zero "inside information", I offer you my own opinions about our franchise as it currently stands:

  • Paul Allen meddles too much. Somebody please sign him up for fantasy basketball on espn or yahoo or something. And while you're at it, do the same for Bert Kolde and everybody else at Vulcan.
  • Larry Miller is a walking definition of a 'yes man'. He does what he is told because he (presumably) makes a lot of money and doesn't take much heat, but he will never be a contributor to this organization in any way.
  • Chad Buchanan seems like a nice guy, who genuinely cares about improving the roster, but for as long as they keep him "auditioning" for the GM job, he's not going to go against what Paul Allen says.
  • Kaleb Canales also seems like an authentic, organization-first kind of guy (supposedly he works so much that he sleeps at the training facility from time to time), which is great! But prospective free agents won't be impressed, and young coaches are often out-coached late in close games.

So, without going into too much detail, i want to present a hypothetical scenario to my fellow Blazer'sEdge readers and see what you all think:

Paul Allen sells the team...
...to Phil Knight.

From one northwest billionaire, to another (according to Forbes, Knight and Allen are each worth just over $13,000,000,000). And I'm aware that Phil Knight has publicly stated that he is not particularly interested in owning a professional franchise, but this is purely hypothetical.

  • would Trail Blazers fans be happy about this?
  • would Oregon State University fans be happy about this?
  • in what ways would Knight make the organization better/stronger?
  • what particular steps/decisions do you think Knight would make for this organization?
  • even though Allen's health is declining, does it matter that Knight is 15 years older than Allen?