Surprising few in Rip City but perhaps raising eyebrows elsewhere, Jusuf Nurkic of the Portland Trail Blazers tweeted out his support of bringing a WNBA franchise back to the City of Roses after WSLAM asked where people would like to see the league expand.
Portland had a WNBA team once upon a time: the Fire. The team, established in 2000, was one of four expansion teams for the league that season, alongside the extant Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever. The Fire played for three seasons with Trail Blazers’ then-owner Paul Allen as the team chairman.