Trail Blazers remain an important part of Oregon despite turmoil

As Portland prepares to trade Damian Lillard, perhaps the team’s most popular player ever, it’s worth remembering that sports franchises are a long-term investment

The Portland Trail Blazers have been the most talked about NBA team in the past two weeks, much more so than the Denver Nuggets, who won the NBA championship in mid-June. That’s because star player Damian Lillard has requested a trade to the Miami Heat.

If you listen to sports talks shows on TV and radio, you might think the future of the Blazers rides on how they handle the trade. Heck, if someone with no knowledge of basketball spent an hour watching one of ESPN’s NBA-focused shows they would think the future of humanity – or at least Oregon – rides on this trade, and especially on how the Blazers treat Lillard.

The Trail Blazers are very important to Oregon. But this trade isn’t nearly as important as either side of the Twitter debate (“Make Dame happy” vs. “Get the Best Deal for the Blazers”) maintain. Here’s why: The trade matters most to people who follow the Blazers and/or the NBA very closely. That’s a minority of fans. For other fans, as well as Oregonians who only occasionally pay attention to the Blazers, their interest in the Blazers is more about identity and experience than winning titles.

This is a pivotal time for the Blazers, but the loss of the most beloved player in franchise history is only part of the reason why. The team’s uncertain ownership situation is a bigger factor. Before delving more into ownership and the Lillard situation, let’s review why the Blazers matter – even to Oregonians who aren’t sports fans.

The value of professional sports teams to cities has long been a hotly debated topic, in large part because teams often extract tax breaks and other publicly financed benefits from cities. Economic analyses, such as this one, based on strictly tangible, financially measurable economic impact show those concessions often don’t pay off. But sports teams offer two huge intangible benefits to communities.

Visibility: Cities with professional sports teams are mentioned more often in the media. There’s really no way to duplicate the exposure. You can have the best restaurants, best museums, best mountains, best beer or wine, whatever. None of those things bring an equal number of media mentions.

Civic cohesion: In this divisive time few things unite people across political and cultural lines. Sports can be one. That’s especially true in a state like Oregon with only one team in one of the four legacy major sports leagues in the United States. In the Blazers’ heyday from the 1977 NBA championship through the Clyde Drexler NBA Finals teams in the early 1990s, the Blazers provided that universal bond in Oregon. To some extent they still do, but there’s much less passion now.

For these reasons, Oregon needs the Blazers. And the Blazers almost certainly will be here with or without Lillard. I say “almost certainly” because of the ownership situation alluded to earlier. Paul Allen was a passionate fan as well as an owner. When he died, his sister Jody Allen inherited control of team. She has been an absentee owner with little emotional attachment to the team and has indicated she eventually will sell it.  Any such transaction poses the slight chance the team could be moved. I doubt the NBA would approve a move, but that’s another column for another day. The bigger risk is that Allen holds onto the team while remaining detached from it, leaving the franchise rudder-less.

As for today, Lillard’s departure could cause some Blazers fans to lose interest while the team rebuilds its lineup with young players and loses far more games than it wins for a couple seasons – or more. Civic cohesion from sports teams is at its highest when teams win big. Check YouTube for scenes from the championship parade in Denver last month, which attracted an estimated 750,000 people. Also, consider that as recently as 2019 the Blazers beat Denver in the playoffs and made it to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to Golden State.

In other words, a lot can happen in a relatively short amount of time. Sports rarely is predictable. Nikola Jokic, the superstar who led Denver to the title, was a second-round draft pick. This year’s top Blazers draft pick Scoot Henderson has a better chance to lead the Blazers to a title than Lillard would have – if only because he’s almost 14 years younger. Of course, he also has a chance to be a bust – the sports world’s term for a highly drafted player who falls well short of expectations. The Blazers have had more than their share of those (two of the top three, according to this list).

Some fans, through Twitter, and media figures, through the megaphones of ESPN and Fox Sports, have trumpeted the concern that the Blazers could damage their image if they mistreat Lillard. While that’s theoretically possible, it’s unlikely. No matter what their agents say during negotiations, players understand how the NBA operates. And Lillard is more astute than most players. He knows everything happening now is just negotiations. If he ends up in Miami, or on another team that ultimately gives him an opportunity to play for a championship, he’ll forgot about the process. As to future free agents? They never pick Portland anyway.

The best thing for anyone who cares about the Blazers – or Oregon – to do now is to ignore the tense back-and-forth negotiations. If you want something to worry about, worry about the ownership of the team. Meanwhile, hope Allen sells the team to Nike founder Phil Knight, who has offered to buy it, and that Scoot Henderson is as good as advertised.

Mark Hester is a retired journalist who worked at The Oregonian for 20 years in positions including sports editor, business editor and editorial writer.