Canzano Suggests Timbers Owner Paulson Should Buy Trail Blazers

Since the death of late owner Paul Allen, the eventual sale of the Portland Trail Blazers has become a certainty. Today in a column for The Oregonian, writer John Canzano casts a vote for Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson to purchase the team.

Canzano cites Paulson’s tenure with the MLS squad as proof of his competency:

The Timbers owner has been a terrific, engaging, enthusiastic leader. He wins, re-invests in the product, and best of all, gets so many of the little things right.

The Timbers play for another MLS title on Saturday in Atlanta.

It’s not an accident.

Canzano discusses Paulson’s possible willingness, then covers the hoops through which he’d have to jump in order to make a deal work:

That price tag means Paulson would likely have to put together a syndicate much like what the Milwaukee Bucks have done. The Milwaukee Bucks boast more than 20 owners, including NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A similar Paulson-led partnership would likely have to happen in this case. And I’d expect that partnership to include his father, Henry Paulson, (net worth: $1 billion) the former US Secretary of the Treasury.

What do you think? How happy would you be with a Merritt Paulson-led ownership group at the top of the Trail Blazers franchise rather than the single owner they’ve had for the last three decades?