Terry Porter visits Portland to boost his bid to buy Blazers

[Brad Russ]

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Former Trail Blazer Terry Porter was in Portland on Tuesday to explore the possibility of putting together a group of investors to buy the beleaguered NBA team.

Porter, who recently coached the Milwaukee Bucks for two seasons, played nine years for the Trail Blazers and remains the team's career assists leader.

He planned to meet with Portland Mayor Tom Potter on Wednesday. A Web site was launched over the weekend to gather fan support for his efforts to rescue the team.

"Terry Porter is truly committed to finding a solution to keep the Blazers in Portland and to lead the organization back to where fans can take pride in their team again," the site www.supportterry.com reads.

Current owner Paul Allen claims the team is hemorrhaging money and needs public support. The Microsoft co-founder said he would be forced to sell the team if a solution could not be found, and seemed resigned to that fact in recent interviews.

The arena was originally financed by Allen without public money. But the team's sister company, Oregon Arena Corp., declared bankruptcy in 2004 and Allen chose to give up ownership rather than continue to pay interest on construction debt.

As a result, team revenue has declined sharply, along with ticket sales. Allen has estimated the team will lose $100 million over the next three seasons.

Portland Arena Management, the company formed to represent the arena lenders, now owns the Rose Garden.

After Allen's public proclamation of hardship, both city and state officials said they could not help the team financially. The situation appeared dire late last month when NBA commissioner David Stern pulled out of negotiations between the team and the arena's owners.

"Unfortunately, the arena owners have not offered any constructive response to these efforts and recently advised us that they are satisfied with the status quo. Accordingly, we have advised both parties that we have withdrawn from the process," Stern said in a statement.

Since then, however, the two sides have started talking, said Andy Brimmer, a spokesman for Allen's investment firm, Vulcan, Inc.

"One avenue we're exploring with them is jointly selling the team and the arena," Brimmer said.

As for Porter's involvement, Brimmer said: "We're interested in exploring all options that would help put the Trail Blazers on solid financial footing."

The Blazers on Wednesday night conclude one of their worst seasons in franchise history at home against the Phoenix Suns. With just 21 wins this season, Portland was already assured of finishing with the league's worst record.

Porter, who was let go by the Bucks after last season, helped the Blazers reach the NBA Finals in the 1990 and 1992 seasons. Portland won its only championship in 1976-77.

Porter's group already has $100 million in debt financing lined up. Stern has estimated the team and arena are worth some $300 million.

Porter said he also will approach other former Blazers, including Clyde Drexler. Oregon's most famous billionaire, Nike co-founder Phil Knight, has already said he is not interested.

"The big hurdle is going out and raising the revenue," Porter told reporters Tuesday. "There's no doubt about that; it's an uphill battle."

[isiahthomas]

If i was Terry Porter, i wouldn't waste my money on that team hahahahahahahahahaha. That team has nothing but a bunch of cry babies, complainers and troublemakers. Darius Miles and Zach Randolph are a problem. Darius has already said he wants to be traded. LOL@Stephen A Smith speaking on Darius Wednesday on ESPN when he said Darius hasn't been happy his entire career hahahahahahahahahaha. Stephen said that Portland fined Darius and Zach recently because the both of them have missed practices and showed up late to the games. This is another example of the ignorant black athlete. When are these guys gonna learn? Darius has been a disappointment since he left the Clippers. He showed that he had talent when he was with the Clippers but when he went to Cleveland, he was inconsistent. He's had some good games earlier this year for Portland before he got injured. Zach spoke earlier in the season that he was tired of the losing and he said his teammates acted like they didn't care about losing. I feel for him and where he's coming from because nobody likes losing and it's a shame when only a few work hard and play well and the other guys do nothing. I can't believe Nate McMillan started Steve Blake over Sebastian Telfair this year. Steve has had some decent games this year but Sebastian is a better point guard than him. Steve is too skinny and his game isn't as exciting as Sebastian's. I really feel bad for Juan Dixon because he's a very good player and i wish he would've stayed with the Wizards because the Wizards could use his scoring in the playoffs because the Wizards bench is weak. Juan is a good guy also and you never hear about him getting in trouble.