Bill Oram: Ding dong, the Blazers are for sale! Which means… what exactly?

A gray world is suddenly drunk with color!

From behind the lush cotton candy foliage near a yellow brick road, you hear a familiar tune.

“Wake up sleepy head! Wipe your eyes! Get out of bed! Ding-dong…”

No, I am not calling any individual person a witch, wicked or otherwise. Certainly not Jody Allen, who does not deserve such derision, condescension or blatant sexism.

Walk this fine line with me, won’t you?

What I’m talking about is the dark cloud of Paul Allen’s estate, the vise-like grip it has held over the

Portland Trail Blazers

and their fans. The inevitable stasis that was created by half-in ownership with an unknown expiration date.

Take it away, Lollipop Guild!

Strike up the band, Lullaby League!

But wait!

If this is the metaphor we are going to employ, we should remember that the yellow brick road leads to… the Emerald City.

So, stop the presses! Hold your horses of a different color!

The impulse is to celebrate the news that

Allen has finally decided to sell the Trail Blazers.

That the inevitable moment has arrived.

Ding-dong, indeed!

The Blazers have hope!

The Blazers have a future!

And while I think fans should celebrate like they won the lottery today, and that new ownership can be a bigger and better revelation than the arrival of any single player — even Cooper Flagg — be wary.

Follow the yellow brick road…

Follow the yellow brick road…

Follow the yellow brick road… at your own peril.

Because if this long overdue, highly anticipated sale, fulfills Blazers fans very worst nightmare and sets off a sequence of events that leads to the franchise moving to Seattle, the Emerald City where Jody Allen resides, then this is not a good day.

It is not good news.

The Blazers don’t have hope or a future.

That’s why I am begging Jody Allen for more here. Because she is the wizard behind the curtain more than she is anything else.

She has the power, she is the almighty.

And by determining who takes control of the Trail Blazers going forward, she can dictate the team’s future in Portland.

Yes, she has a fiduciary responsibility — a term you’re likely to hear over and over before a sale is completed — to her brother’s estate to bring back top dollar, she also has some reasonable discretion.

And this moment called for an unequivocal commitment to Portland and Oregon. It should have alarm bells blaring that she opted not to give one.

Perhaps you’d argue that it was not needed. That the NBA doesn’t want another blemish on its history by robbing another city of a civic treasure the way Clay Bennett pilfered the Sonics from Seattle.

Paying an expansion fee to build a new franchise from the ground-up would likely be cheaper for a flavor-of-the-month billionaire than buying and relocating an existing team with deep roots. The league is due for expansion anyway.

The Blazers will never leave Portland.

Maybe. I hope not.

So say it. Shout it, even.

Instead, Allen opted for an emotionless, anodyne statement. One that could have been greatly enhanced by just a few short words that would have nipped those concerns in the City of Roses’ fretful bud.

“The estate of Paul G. Allen has commenced a formal sales process that will prioritize finding new ownership that is committed to keeping the Trail Blazers in Portland for generations to come.”

Would have been nice, but these people don’t think like us. Or think about us, even.

Lawyers and billionaires and PR flacks, oh my.

Before selling the Utah Jazz in 2020, owner Gail Miller placed the franchise in a legacy trust designed to prevent the franchise from moving regardless of new ownership.

Portland doesn’t need its team to be in any more trusts right now. But their fans do need to be able to trust that ownership is guarding their interests, too.

The Trail Blazers are Oregon’s team. They are, among the four biggest professional sports’ leagues, Oregon’s only team. We wear that with pride and honor.

I get that Jody is merely a steward for her brother’s estate. That her best interests over the past seven years could never fully align with those of the franchise or the fanbase.

That’s why the arena still hasn’t been renovated. Why a long-term lease with the city was put on hold. Frankly, it’s why it would not have made business sense to hire a new general manager or coach.

When the Blazers are sold sometime in the next year, the proceeds will be used for philanthropic purposes, as dictated by Paul Allen’s will. Jody could give back to the state that has supported her team by directing the entirety of those proceeds to charitable efforts and organizations in Oregon.

But she likely won’t. I recognize that is probably asking too much.

So as a consolation, I just ask her to think of this city and state when she sells. The most charitable gift she could give would be the promise that the team will stay here. In perpetuity. She has that power.

If she only has courage.

If she only has a heart.

—


Bill Oram


is the sports columnist at The Oregonian/OregonLive.

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