4 billion sells the Trail Blazers! Are Yang Hansen and Lillard the price increase?

Tom Dunton is about to buy the Portland Trail Blazers for more than $4 billion. This is the third NBA team to be sold in the offseason this year after the Lakers changed hands for $10 billion and the Celtics sold for $6.1 billion. The time point of the deal was very interesting. Not long ago, the Trail Blazers just selected Yang Hansen in the draft, and unexpectedly used a three-year, $42 million contract to welcome back the team's meritorious Lillard, who had a torn Achilles tendon and expected to be completely reimbursed next season.

reporter Shams reported: "Lillard is expected to use the entire 2025-26 season to recover from the Achilles tendon tear injury and then return to the Trail Blazers Stadium in the 2026-27 season." This means that the Trail Blazers will pay $14 million for a person who cannot play for at least one year. What does management plan? Is it just for the so-called "feelings" and "the return of team spirit"? I don't think it's that simple. Lillard's real value may be at the tactical level, especially for the development of insiders Klingen and Yang Hansen.

According to statistics, since the 2015-16 season, Lillard scored as high as 1.05 points per round when playing pick-and-roll, and only three seasons in the past decade have been below 1 point. His fixed-point shots were 1.18 points per round, his hand received the ball and 1.04 points per round, and his unstoppable cover was 1.02 points per round. These figures prove that Lillard is one of the most efficient pick-and-roll initiators in league history. In contrast, the current lineup of the Trail Blazers, after sending out Simmons, the main backcourts are Henderson and Sharp. Henderson is still adapting to the NBA rhythm, and Sharp is more inclined to score terminators. Holiday has received rich experience and excellent defense, but last season, there were only 1.9 pick-and-rolls in 100 rounds. As basketball commentator Su Qun pointed out: "The Blazers lack a good guard who has both shooting and operational control." Even though Lillard's condition has declined after he recovered from injury, his experience in pick-and-roll, ability to read games and rich experience in working with different types of centers are something Henderson and Sharp cannot provide in the short term. One of the core purposes of this contract with an average annual average of 14 million is to equip Klingen and Yang Hansen with a top "tactical mentor + potential partner". This year Lillard recovered from injury, which just gave these two inside rookies a valuable buffer period to adapt to the NBA. When Lillard returns healthy in the 2026-27 season, they should also enter a more mature stage. Lillard cooperates with their pick-and-roll, theoretically very complementary.

At the same time, this signing is also a smart business card played by the Trail Blazers during the critical period of selling the team. Forbes previously valued the Trail Blazers at $3.5 billion, ranking only 24th in the league. The team sale process has been launched by the Paul Allen Heritage Foundation, and the league president has confirmed the matter. At this sensitive moment, choosing Yang Hansen brought immediate business effects, such as the significant increase in topic volume, team popularity, and jersey sales. Sign back to the iconic team history Lillard? This is undoubtedly a guarantee of showing potential buyers two attractive selling points, huge international market development potential and a strong sense of emotional support to consolidate the foundation of local fans. The final transaction price exceeded US$4 billion, far higher than Forbes' valuation. The "Lillard effect" is tangible in asset valuation. Essentially, the management used a contract in which Lillard would not have to pay too much on the court performance next season, locking in the future that might be worth the most in value and huge commercial influence bonuses, and accurately serve the team's core goal of selling.

Of course, this also reflects the team's dilemma after Paul Allen's death. As the co-founder of Microsoft, Allen was once a boss who was willing to invest in the team, like Clippers boss Ballmer. But as the fans commented: "Since Paul Allen's death, to be honest, my sister Judy is not very concerned about basketball. The sale of the team is following Paul Allen's will and using all the proceeds from the team's sale to charity." As Allen's sister and main heir, Judy Allen is more like an ordinary person who suddenly inherited a professional team from a huge wealth. She lacks enthusiasm for basketball. This caused the team management to fall into chaos after Allen's death. Former general manager Olch formed a failed three-back lineup and eventually stepped down; successor Cronin was criticized for selling Covington and Powell at a low price, "replaced with a bunch of junks"; more importantly, in the 2023 draft, Simmons and Sharp still chose point guard Shenderson with the Tetragali draw, and it is rumored that Lillard was more inclined to choose Amen Thompson at the time, which became the last straw that broke the camels, which eventually led to Lillard applying for a deal. If Allen was there, these controversial operations were likely not to happen.

The team's sale itself also exposed the rules of the game in the NBA capital market. Trail Blazers reporter Sean Highkin expressed his opinion on social media: "The league's board of directors approved the Celtics' sale today, and their transfer agreement was agreed as early as March. If calculated at this time, the Trail Blazers' transfer agreement will not be approved until next year's All-Star Game, but this is not certain, because the Lakers' transfer in June has not been approved yet." This clearly shows that the league is intending to control the approval rhythm of top team transactions. The sky-high transactions between the Lakers and the Celtics are like the "highest price for the building", which directly raised the market expectations of subsequent teams. The price of 4 billion is the result of capital game under this general background.

For Yang Hansen, Lillard's return is a huge opportunity, but it also means clear challenges and pressures. Su Qun once mentioned: "The three years Lillard signed are equivalent to clarifying the plans and timetables of the Trail Blazers for the next three years, and it is also the timetable for Yang Hansen to grow. If he can't keep up with this table, he will be at risk of being discarded." Yang Hansen must quickly improve his pick-and-roll quality, finishing ability and game adaptability during the rookie's rehabilitation period and the critical period before his comeback, so as to seize this opportunity to join forces with the old and new cores.