Could Phil Knight become next Trail Blazers owner? Interest from Nike founder & shoe dog resurfaces amid sale talks

On Tuesday, the estate of Paul G. Allen announced that, according to the late Microsoft co-founder's wishes, the Portland Trail Blazers would be sold, with proceeds going to philanthropic endeavors.

Immediately, NBA fans began to speculate whether Nike founder Phil Knight would step in and purchase the team, given that he is a Portland native.

As NBA fans may recall, back in 2022, Phil Knight and LA Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky offered the estate of Paul G. Allen $2 billion for the Trail Blazers. At the time, the news was broken by Adrian Wojnarowski, with the NBA insider indicating that discussions were ongoing.

Ultimately, the talks led nowhere. However, following Shams Charania's report that Jody Allen, who manages her late brother's estate, has taken the process of selling the team, Knight's name has resurfaced.

So far, the Nike founder hasn't spoken publicly about the news of the team being up for sale. But, given his past interest, many expect him to pursue and keep the Trail Blazers in Portland.

Looking at some of the other NBA teams that are undergoing sales amid news of the Portland Trail Blazers beginning the process of being sold

The news of the estate of Paul G. Allen initiating the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers marks the latest news of an NBA franchise going up for sale.

The last NBA franchise sale was in 2023 when Michael Jordan sold the Charlotte Hornets to Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall. Before that, Mat Ishbia purchased the Phoenix Suns in 2022 from Robert Sarver.

Before the news of the Blazers going up for sale, we saw the Celtics' owners decide to put the team up for sale after their championship win last year.

Additionally, in recent years, we've seen the sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves land Glen Taylor and newly-appointed owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore in court.

With the sale of the Celtics expected to take years, the ownership of the T-Wolves set to transfer, and the Trail Blazers now on the market, it'll be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming years.