Bill Oram: Why Portland is still in the mix for a WNBA team, and how Damian Lillard fits in

People keep telling me I’m not going to have to eat my shirt.

You may remember that back in October I pledged to eat a vintage Natalie Williams jersey from the Portland Power of the ABL if Portland did not land a WNBA team. Weeks later, a planned announcement was scrapped and prospective owner Kirk Brown pulled out of the bid.

The jersey has remained on a hanger in my closet for three reasons:

1. That’s a collector’s item!



2. How does one best prepare a basketball jersey for consumption?

3. An overwhelming sense from people in the know that Portland remains very much in play for a WNBA team.

On Friday morning the WNBA announced plans for expansion to 14 teams with the addition of a team in Toronto in 2026, taking the league international a day after charter flights became approved. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said she wants to see the league grow to 16 teams by 2028.

So where does that leave Portland?

It’s been an open secret for the past few months that there are multiple potential ownership groups lining up to resurrect Portland’s bid. One involves the Bhathal family, which earlier this year purchased the NWSL’s Thorns from Merritt Paulson for $63 million.

The other? The Monarch Collective, a fund focused on investing in women’s sports teams that is operated by a co-founder of Angel City FC, is organizing a bid for woman-led control owners who sources described as self-made, entrepreneur billionaires known in pro sports circles.

Monarch is working to assemble a syndicate of visible local investors, from restauranteurs to athletes. Damian Lillard is expected to take a prominent role with the group, according to multiple sources.
Involving Lillard, the most popular figure in Portland for more than a decade, in a forward-facing ownership role would be a massive public relations win for Monarch. Despite being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks last September, Lillard continues to live in Portland and considers it his home. In February, he expressed interest in becoming a part-owner of the Trail Blazers once his playing career is over.

Lillard declined to comment to The Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Aaron Fentress on Friday.
Both groups have actively explored their options for the market, including sites for potential facilities, sources indicated.

On one hand, the Monarch Collective, despite being an out-of-town investment fund, would seem to try to build a grassroots organization that would resonate with Portlanders.

On the other, the Bhathal family, led by siblings Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, could have the beginnings of a women’s sports empire and an opportunity to create real synergy between the two organizations.

The concerns about the timeline for renovations of the Moda Center and Memorial Coliseum that Engelbert laid out in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden last year seem to have abated.

Either one of the two Portland bids presents as much stronger than the one-man effort by the ZoomInfo founder Brown, who sources said cooled on the idea of WNBA ownership the closer it got to the announcement date.

It is unclear how the WNBA will evaluate two, seemingly viable efforts. Would the WNBA elect to see the two groups engage in a bidding war, thereby raising team values throughout the league?

Last year, the league’s expansion fee was expected to be $60 million, but the sport has continued its rapid rise thanks to the popularity of college players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Beaverton’s Cameron Brink, who were selected in the WNBA draft this month.

With last year’s efforts falling through, Portland might have moved back in line, but the city’s bid might have gotten stronger as a result.

All of the reasons that Engelbert called Portland an “ideal destination” for expansion less than a year ago remain in place, most notably a fervent local passion for women’s sports and a strong desire for bringing the city its first WNBA team since the Portland Fire dissolved in 2002.

The key difference is that either of the ownership options are both stronger and more credible.

So, you can keep your recipes. I’m not planning to take a bite out of that jersey.

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2...wnba-team-and-how-damian-lillard-fits-in.html

 

But sure, Lillard hates Portland, hates the Blazers, and onely wanted to be traded to Miami because he's going through a divorce and wants to have lots of hot Florida sex.

Or...

Maybe Lillard is exactly who he says he is.

Words like loyalty, respect, and family actually mean something to him.

Now I love my Blazers but let's be honest, we're kind of a mess right now. Ownership, roster, leadership, coaching, the hallmarks of a well run franchise, are all a mess right now. If you were to make a list of the best run, most stable franchises in the NBA you would have The Spurs, Golden State, arguably The Celtics, and The Heat. If you were to look at which of these teams are in a championship window and need a point guard and you get one team, and one team only, The Heat.

Some of you were arguing that Lillard is being selfish and wanted to only go to Miami to hurt the Blazers and get laid. Sorry, I just don't see it that way. I think he wanted what he used to have in the Blazers and doesn't anymore. Lillard wasn't demanding to go to a super team, he just wanted to go to a place where he could put the work in and hopefully compete for a ring.

That Bucks are a great team because of Giannis, but that franchise is a mess. The coaching drama that happened this season is the last thing Lillard wanted.

Lillard was having his best season as a pro last year and shut it down to help the team get better. While LMA said he wanted to be the greatest Blazer ever, Lillard has said he wanted to bring a championship to Portland. And while the Blazers said that was their focus too, the last two 1st round players the Blazers drafted are projects. Not ready to contribute to a winning team from day one. I like Shaedon and Scoot and they have great potential, but they are both raw, you could not pencil them in for regular minutes in the rotation. You want to see what a NBA rookie point guard looks like that could come in and immediately fit into the rotation and contribute? See Lillard's rookie season.

The most rotation ready player the Blazers have drafted the last two years was Jabari. Now Jabari's role is limited, and he doesn't have the ceiling that Shaedon and Scoot have, he's someone you could put in for 5-10mins every night and pretty much know what you would get.

If during these last two drafts the Blazers were telling him they were going to get him help we have a problem. Not only did drafting Scoot not solve a need for the Blazers, it put the team in a position of wanting Lillard to play pretty much the same role that Brogdan did for the team this year. A mentor, not a contributor.

I'm saying all this because Lillard is ours. He's built a home here, moved his family here, invested in the community, lives here in the offseason, I think a Lillard controlled WNBA team would be run like he lives his life, with loyalty and respect and I think it would be great for Portland, Oregon, and the WNBA.

 

The whole Moda center excuse always did seem fishy.