As the NBA takes a closer look at expansion and franchise values continue to soar, Commissioner Adam Silver weighed in on the fate of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Paul Allen’s estate announced in May that it had begun the process of selling the Blazers. On Tuesday night in Las Vegas, following an annual meeting of the league’s 30 franchise leaders, Silver was asked about the Blazers’ future.

“It’s the league’s preference that that team remain in Portland,” Silver said in response to a question from Sean Highkin with the Portland-based Rose Garden Report website. “We’ve had great success in Portland over the years.”

Silver’s comments came during a half-hour press conference to discuss major issues facing the league. Silver said he was aware of potential ownership groups “that are actively engaged with the estate and have demonstrated interest in that team.”

Silver said a factor in the sale is that the “city of Portland likely needs a new arena,” which he said would be part of the challenge for any new owner.

The city of Portland owns the Moda Center, which is one of the older arenas in the league that has not undergone major renovations. The Blazers have a lease through 2030, with an option for an additional five-year extension.

Elliott Kozuch, a spokesperson for the city, said in an email that the rejiggered lease agreement approved by the team and City Council last year sets “the stage for a major renovation of the nearly 30-year-old arena to create a state-of-the-art facility.”

“The City continues to collaborate with team leadership and looks forward to forging a strong partnership with new ownership to ensure that Oregon’s favorite basketball team continues to thrive in Portland,” Kozuch said.

Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, died in 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Since then, his sister, Jody Allen, has served as chair of the Trail Blazers and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust.

More broadly, Silver indicated that the NBA may finally be one step closer on the long road to expansion.

Saying owners have a “curiosity” about the notion, Silver said that the league will now study the issue more formally as part of an in-depth analysis. The inquiry would be the first official move in a long process toward adding franchises.

There’s no timetable for how long the process will take, nor have any decisions been made on details of potential expansion, such as what the expansion fee will be, when the new teams will start play — or even if the league will actually expand.

“A lot of analysis still needs to be done and nothing has been predetermined,” Silver said after the end of the league’s board of governors meeting.

The league isn’t creating a new committee to study expansion. The duties, for now, will fall primarily to a pair of existing groups, with the advisory finance committee leading and the audit and strategy committee also involved.

The decision to take a harder look at expansion wasn’t totally unexpected, since the notion of adding clubs has been a talking point for several years. Cities like Las Vegas and Seattle — long perceived to be the front-runners should the NBA decide to expand past its current 30-team footprint — will surely continue to push to be the eventual picks. And Silver himself has said previously that he expects expansion will happen at some point.

“I think there is a significant step now in that we are now engaging in this in-depth analysis, something we weren’t prepared to do before,” Silver said. “But beyond that, it’s really Day 1 of that in-depth analysis. And so, in terms of price, potential timing, it’s too early to say.

”It is truly a complicated issue.”

The next board of governors meeting will likely take place in September.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/07/16/nba-trail-blazers-portland-moda-center-adam-silver/