Portland Trail Blazers Biography: Players, Net Worth, History, Stats

The Portland Trail Blazers are the NBA teams who have made it to the playoffs 37 times out of 55 seasons that they have played in the league. It is based in Portland, Oregon, where the loyal fanbase of the franchise does not shy away from praising or criticizing their team when it comes to performance. For the past few years, the team has been going through a transition phase. Yet, they are a contender for playoffs in the 2024-25 season. So, let's move ahead to learn more about this NBA franchise and its rich postseason history in the league with much more info.

Portland Trail Blazers Profile

Portland Trail Blazers History

Harry Glickman founded the Portland Trail Blazers as an expansion team in 1970 with the financial aid of Robert Schmertz of New Jersey, Larry Weinberg of Los Angeles, and Herman Sarkowsky of Seattle. For the first four years, the performance was dormant from the franchise. However, in 1974, the Portland Trail Blazers picked up Bill Walton, and it was a jackpot. He led the team to its first playoff and championship in 1977 and won the Finals MVP. The next season, the team even made it to the Western Conference Semi-Finals, but it was not a success. But the team started deteriorating as Bill developed a foot injury, and it affected his whole career. From 1980-1983, the team made it to playoffs continuously except in 1982, although there was no star player on the roster.

After 1983, Clyde Drexler emerged as the new anchor for the franchise, and then Paul Allen took over the league in 1988 for $70 million. It was a turnaround move for the team. They made it to the 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals. However, the Detroit Pistons in 1990 and the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls in 1992 shattered their dream for another title. After the 1995 season, Terry Porter (1995), Buck Williams (1996), and Clifford Robinson (1997) took charge of the team and made sure that it stayed competitive enough to enter the playoffs. However, after the 2000-01 season, the team experienced a dark phase with fans and media questioning the decisions of Whitsitt as manager.

The team witnessed some splashes of success with LaMarcus Aldridge until Damian Lillard took over the team in 2012. To backup Lillard, CJ McCollum entered the team in 2013. After Lillard's departure in 2023, the team is still in a rebuilding phase. During the Lillard era, the team reached 8 times to the playoffs.

Portland Trail Blazers Stats

Portland Trail Blazers Famous Players

The Trail Blazers might be short of any star players right now. However, do not doubt the history of Portland Trail Blazers as a home to legends. it is filled with players who made sure that the franchise keep on appearing in the playoffs. It built a certain reputation for them as a competitive side in the Western Conference. Here are the top picks who had the most contribution to this cause.

Bill Walton

The NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton won the only championship for the franchise in 1977. He dished out 18.2 points, 15.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.4 blocks, and 1.1 steals during the 1977 postseason. If the legend had not suffered the foot injury, the Trail Blazers would have been sitting with another one or maybe two championships in the history of the league. But that did not happen, and Walton could not get the appropriate medical attention for his injury.

Clyde Drexler

He is hailed as one of the 50 greatest players in the NBA. It was during his reign when the Trail Blazers recorded 63 wins in the 1990-91 season and made it to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. However, his luck ran out both times since the team couldn't win the title. He was an eight times All-Star and participated in the Barcelona Olympics by being part of the gold winning 1992 Dream Team.

Damian Lillard

He could have been on the top, but Damian Lillard was not able to win a championship for the Portland Trail Blazers. He is still the franchise leader in points, 3-pointers, and free throws. The 7x All-Star dedicated 11 years of his career to the franchise. Even the Dame Time during the clutch situations was not enough to get him the satisfaction of a title. Yet the team made it to the NBA playoffs multiple times under his supervision.

LaMarcus Aldridge

He was the hub of Portland’s attack and used to set screens. Then he would roll to the elbow for a pick and pop or just post mid-range on the left side of the floor and work alone for scoring buckets. If he would not have left the Blazers in the 2015 season during his prime, the tale might have been better for the franchise as well as Damian Lillard regarding a satisfactory farewell moment from the franchise.

Portland Trail Blazers Roster

The Portland Trail Blazers front office did not make any additions to the roster last season. Rather, they waived James Bouknight after signing him as a free agent. For now, the team is going with the game of Deni Avdija and Deandre Ayton. Recently, Deni Avdija dumped 31 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists, leading the Blazers to a 115-99 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on March 20, 2025.

Both of these are the best performers for the franchise after the departure of Damian Lillard from the franchise. So, the current roster of the Trail Blazers looks like the following table according to ESPN data:

Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach

The Portland Trail Blazers head coach is Chauncey Billups, who took his current role on June 27, 2021. He is a former NBA player who played 17 seasons in the league for different teams and won the Finals MVP in 2004 during the Detroit Pistons' win. Billups was an Assistant Coach for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2020-2021 NBA Season and has the only experience in coaching. He led the Clippers to a 47-25 regular season record and the 4th seed in the Western Conference during his first season as a head coach.

His style of coaching is focused on creating a team around young players who are hard on defense and keep their competitive presence in the respective conference.

Portland Trail Blazers Owner

The Portland Trail Blazers are currently under the ownership of the Paul G. Allen Estate, whose chairwoman is Jody Allen. Actually the whole estate was in the name of Paul Allen. But tragically, he passed away in 2018 due to lymphoma(cancer). After that, Jody Allen took the charge and started overseeing the franchise's operations and strategic approach. According to the media reports, there have been continuous attempts from Nike owner Phil Knight and real estate mogul Alan Smolinisky to buy the Trail Blazers. However, Jody is not ready to give away the team, whatever the price. She thinks that an estate with a complex structure like Paul Allen's must be sold with care and patience. This process can even take up to 20 years, but she is open to selling the franchise.

Portland Trail Blazers Net Worth

According to Forbes, the estimated net worth of the Portland Trail Blazers is $3.5 Billion. The franchise is able to accumulate $335M in revenue from the fans and merchandise sales. The amount that the team earns from the gate receipts is $59M, which is about 18% of the total revenue that the franchise generates from the team and its players. In addition to the mentioned numbers, when it comes to earning from a single fan, the Portland Trail Blazers make up about $60 from each spectator.

Portland Trail Blazers Records

The Trail Blazers secured the largest victory in the NBA by a margin of 53 points when they confronted the Charlotte Hornets on February 23, 2025. It was a 141-88 win in which the Blazers did not let their lead slide away at any point of the game. Another trivia about the franchise is that the Portland Trail Blazers only stand second to the San Antonio Spurs(22) and Philadelphia 76ers(22) in terms of straight playoff appearances. The franchise achieved this feat between the years 1983 and 2003, which shows that the team had not lost their touch despite the departure of stars like Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas.

Portland Trail Blazers Stadium

Portland Trail Blazers' home stadium is Moda Center, which was formerly known as the Rose Garden among the fans. It is located in the home city of Portland, Oregon, where the games are held in an indoor sports arena. It has a capacity of about 20,500 spectators for watching a basketball game. However, it is not just basketball that the Moda Center organizes inside its arena. It is also used for rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. That's why the arena has a facility of state-of-the-art acoustics.

It was built in two years on October 12, 1995 with funding of $262 million. Unfortunately, it went through a phase of bankruptcy, after which the Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen rebought the building from the creditors in 2007.

Portland Trail Blazers Championships

The Portland Trail Blazers have won only one championship in the NBA, and it came shortly after their inception as an expansion in the NBA after the ABA-NBA merger. From the 1974 Draft, Portland already had the number one pick, Bill Walton. Later on, when the teams were dissolved during the ABA's merger, then the Trail Blazers selected Maurice Lucas. Under the supervision of new head coach Jack Ramsay, the team went on to deliver the best season that they've ever played.

They ended the regular season with a 49-33 record and made it to the playoffs for the first time in the league's history. Surprisingly, the team also won the 1977 NBA Championship. They contended with the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals, with Hall of Famers like Julius Erving on the other end. Yet the Trail Blazers won the Finals series by a 4-2 record. Due to Walton's 18.5 points, 19.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 3.7 blocks per game, he was declared the NBA Finals MVP. Under Clyde Drexler, the team once again reached the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. However, both of the times it could not secure the championships.