Over the last decade or so, the only player that has kept the Portland Trail Blazers relevant in the league has been Damian Lillard. Lillard is one of the most loyal players in the NBA, and it’s a shame that he is yet to win an NBA Championship in his career.
Now, with Kevin Durant on the market, Lillard must have obviously tried to call the owner of the franchise, Jody Allen, to pursue the 2x NBA champion. But as per reports, Allen didn’t pick up any of Lillard’s calls and refused to sit down with him.
It could have been due to the fact that NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Nike co-owner Phil Knight and LA Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky offered Allen $2 billion to buy the Trail Blazers. If that were the case, Lillard would have definitely understood the situation.
However, Jody Allen has come out and released a statement that says she rejected the $2 billion offer to sell the team. Instead, she wants to focus on building a championship-caliber team for the future.
Statement from Jody Allen pic.twitter.com/oAezfb398o
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) July 5, 2022
“As chair of both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, my long-term focus is building championship teams that our communities are proud of. Like my brother Paul, I trust and expect our leaders and coaches to build winning teams that deliver results on and off the court and field.
“As we’ve stated before, neither of the teams is for sale and there are no sales discussions happening.
“A time will come when that changes, given Paul’s plans to dedicate the vast majority of his wealth to philanthropy, but estates of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to wind down. There is no pre-ordained timeline by which the teams must be sold.
“Until then, my focus — and that of our teams — is on winning.”
While it is good to know that Allen is focusing on building a championship-winning team, she still needs to add a lot of help around Dame.
Lillard has been a lone star for the Trail Blazers for several years now. It’s not that he hasn’t been great, but there’s only so much a lone star can do for a franchise when other teams in the league have added multiple superstars to their respective rosters.
