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Portland Trail Blazers owner Jody Allen is in even more hot water after declining to respond to superstar point guard Damian Lillard’s multiple requests to talk about the team’s direction.
The New York Post put out a piece on the Blazers organization that revolved around Allen’s unwillingness to sell the team and alienating Lillard from the process of retooling their roster.
“Damian wanted to sit down and have a conversation with Jody about the team and she didn’t return his call. Then he tried to email her. Eventually she just never responded and put him in touch with Bert [Kolde],” the anonymous source told them.
“When you own a team, there are critical key decisions to make and you should be the one involved in making the decisions.”
The person in question is none other than the Blazers’ vice chair Bert Kolde, who is also the executive vice president of sports and strategy at Vulcan Incorporated–making him Allen’s one-down in terms of running the Blazers.
It is a disturbing turn of events since the Blazers are at a crossroads because of the uncertainty surrounding Lillard and the franchise’s seeming incapability to build a worthy title contender around him.
Nike founder Phil Knight reportedly made a $2 billion bid to buy the team from Allen in June, but the widow of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is not willing to part with the Blazers at all.
Many believe that this could be the best time for Allen to get out of managing the Blazers, but did not even give Knight the time of day to respond to his call and deferred him instead to Kolde, like what she did to Lillard.
The superstar point guard has been doing his best to carry the Blazers to prominence in the hopes of attracting free agents and other big names to join him in the Rose City to make a credible run to the title.
To the organization’s credit, they have given Lillard a much better roster for the upcoming season than in years past by acquiring defensive ace Gary Payton II from the Golden State Warriors with a three-year, $26 million contract via their mid-level exception.
Retaining the services of rising guard Anfernee Simons and veteran big man Jusuf Nurkic were also major moves they did this offseason.
They have also added forward Jerami Grant from the Detroit Pistons via trade, which gives Lillard his best supporting cast since the time of LaMarcus Aldridge in the mid-2010s.
Going into the season, the Blazers will understandably have a ton of distractions outside the court, but it will be up to Lillard and his new co-stars to make the most out of it once again.
Portland Trail Blazers Owner Jody Allen watches play between the Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder during their game at Moda Center on November 27, 2019 in Portland, Oregon.
Photo: Abbie Parr/Getty Images
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