Portland Trail Blazers Place Bid On NBA All-Star Game

Casey Holdahl reported on Forward-Center that the Portland Trail Blazers have submitted a bid to the NBA for hosting the 2017 or 2018 All-Star Game at the Moda Center. Portland has never hosted an All-Star Game despite having a steady NBA presence since 1970. Historically, Portland has reportedly been denied an All-Star Game due limitations with local lodging. However, the Blazers and the City of Portland believe they have worked through those issues:

"Consistent with what we’ve said from Day One is when the opportunity to bid on any available All-Star Game occurs, we’d obviously put our best foot forward and bid," said McGowan. "So we were kind of waiting until the opportunity presented itself, which happened three months ago."

Since then, the Trail Blazers and the Rose Quarter have worked with with City of Portland, Metro, the Oregon Convention Center, Travel Portland, the Oregon Sports Authority and local hotels to craft the bid and assure that the logistical challenges that hosting an NBA All-Star game poses can be met.

There is no deadline for decisions about future All-Star games, but the Blazers hope to hear a verdict by the end of the year. The recently-approved Convention Center hotel will significantly increase the available lodging near the Moda Center, and is expected to be open by the 2018 game.

-- Tim