Financial problems may force Blazers, Sonics to sell

	By spending millions on the talented but often unmotivated Zach Randolph, the Blazers have built a team few want to see. Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images
	MAILBAG Ian Thomsen will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Want to buy an NBA team? If so, are you willing to put up with a lot of rain and even more debt?

The Seattle SuperSonics and the Portland Trail Blazers both may be available because their owners are fed up with hemorrhaging money courtesy of bad arena leases. Blazers owner Paul Allen is sending out mixed signals: Some in the league believe he would sell if only he could find somebody willing to take over the mess he's created (fat chance); others wonder if Allen is trying to convince local government to rezone some land he owns near the Rose Garden to help offset his losses within the arena.

The Sonics, on the other hand, could be sold within a year after the state legislature recently chose not to come up with $200 million for a new arena. A highly placed league source says that two credible potential buyers have already emerged. Principal owner Howard Schultz's group is seeking  to sell in the neighborhood of the $360 million that the Boston Celtics netted in 2002.

Rival executives scoff at the idea that the Sonics could be worth so much after Schultz paid just $200 million for them in '01. But consider that their Key Arena lease expires in '10, which is the most lucrative form of NBA free agency. It would enable a new owner to move the team to another market, or to exploit the kind of leverage that could force local government to offer a sweetheart deal to keep the team in Seattle.

The Sonics are in good shape on the court as well, in spite of their current 25-39 record. Their $50 million payroll is among the lowest in the league, and they are young and deep at every position from point guard (Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson) to center (Robert Swift and Johan Petro). Management is adamant that there will be no fire sale of talent this summer, though their frugal option on interim coach Bob Hill probably makes him the front-runner to return next season.

In recent days, commissioner David Stern has intervened in Portland to resolve the Blazers' lease, a move born of Allen's frustration. The situation sends a damning message about the marketplace: If one of the world's richest men can't make a go of his NBA franchise, who can? That kind of publicity doesn't exactly increase the value of the other 29 teams, does it?

Allen says that the future of the Blazers is in doubt unless his lease is restructured. In a Q&A currently posted on blazers.com, however, he admits that he wouldn't be crying for help if he had put a better product on the floor. "Operating revenues from the Rose Garden -- including all the revenues from suites, club seats, concessions and other sources -- had become insufficient to pay the heavy debt burden, due, in large part, to declining attendance," Allen writes.