Approved! Trail Blazers Officially Change Ownership! $4.3 Billion Mega Deal

It's settled, confirmed.

The NBA officially announced:Official approval of the sale of the Trail Blazers' controlling stake to an investment group led by Tom Dundon.

The deal is reportedly valued at $4.25 billion.

Notably, the Trail Blazers' original valuation was $3.65 billion, but it has now reached $4.25 billion, attributed to the enhanced commercial appeal brought by the addition of Chinese player Yang Hansen.

As mentioned above, the Trail Blazers' new owner is Tom Dundon, who has frequently attended G League games to watch Yang Hansen play for the Rip City Remix.

Dundon is known for his willingness to spend, having raised the Hurricanes' payroll from one of the lowest in the NHL to sixth in the league after taking over. This suggests the Trail Blazers will receive greater investment to enhance their competitiveness in the NBA. This season, the Trail Blazers' total payroll is $177.1 million, ranking 22nd in the league, with zero luxury tax payments.

So far this season, the Trail Blazers are 38-38, ranking ninth in the West, trailing the eighth-place Clippers by 1.5 games and leading the tenth-place Warriors by 1.5 games.

The Trail Blazers have 6 regular-season games remaining, against the Clippers, Pelicans, Nuggets, Spurs, Clippers, and Kings.

If the Trail Blazers remain ninth in the West by the end of the regular season, they must first play a play-in game against the tenth-place team. A loss ends playoff hopes; a win requires another play-in game against the loser between the seventh and eighth-place teams to compete for the No. 8 seed playoff spot.

Just escaping the play-in is extremely difficult, and then facing the defending champion Thunder in the first round of the playoffs...

It's worth noting that the Thunder's first regular-season loss this season was to the Trail Blazers.

Actually, the Thunder haven't secured the top spot in the West yet; they currently lead the second-place Spurs by only 2.5 games.

If the Spurs overtake the Thunder and claim the top spot, the 22-year-old Victor Wembanyama might truly surpass Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to become the youngest MVP in NBA history.

Of course, whether facing the Thunder or Spurs in the playoffs, the Trail Blazers are unlikely to upset them; miracles don't happen easily.