NBA owner Dan Gilbert has Detroit roots, and thanks to a very interesting business move, could be positioning himself to make a run at his hometown football team the Detroit Lions in the future. Recently, Gilbert put the Greektown Casino up for sale for $1 billion and was able to secure a deal, which could open him up to chasing down a purchase of the Lions in the future if one plugged-in Cleveland sportscaster is to be believed.

According to Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan, Gilbert could be setting himself up to try and purchase the Lions when he is able to clear out his casino assets further.

"Once Dan Gilbert sells off Rock Gaming I expect him to pursue a purchase of the Lions. He’ll be able to use the cash from the sales of the casinos to buy the franchise from the Ford family," Ruiter tweeted.

In Detroit, folks have wondered if Gilbert might have eyes on another local franchise in baseball's Detroit Tigers. Recently, owner Chris Ilitch has said that the team isn't for sale, and some more hurdles would have to be cleared by Gilbert if he wanted to own either that team or the Lions. He'd also have to sell off Rock Gaming, also formally known as Jack Entertainment, as Ruiter points out. That could be a move that is also being plotted, however, as reports have swirled in recent months that Gilbert wants out of the casino business altogether. This is merely the first step.

The bigger question to ponder is probably would the Fords ever sell the Lions. It's been a family business since William Clay Ford purchased the team in 1963 with awful results after. Since the elder Ford's death in 2014, his wife Martha Ford owns the team. Now, Ford is worth a reported $1.5 billion, and her franchise is worth $1.7 billion, which is on the lower end for NFL franchises as proven every year by Forbes, meaning someone like Gilbert could certainly make a play for one of the league's most affordable teams.

As for perhaps another interesting question, the succession plan is something fans have been thinking about, considering Ford is aging and is 93 years old. Many locally have assumed that Ford would keep the team in the family with her daughters or William Clay Ford Jr. Ford Jr. has had a complicated place within the Lions ownership hierarchy, choosing at times to stay hands off through the years with his father and now his mother. How much interest the younger Fords have in the Lions is certainly up for debate, as they are involved now, but currently overshadowed by their mother who has the long standing ties from her late husband.

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When the time comes, it will be interesting to see what the Fords do with the Lions. Casual wisdom has long assumed the team will not sell, and will choose to keep things in the family, though they have not been publicly approached by someone like Gilbert before. For the time being, Mrs. Ford has been a breath of fresh air for the Lions and many of their fans given the intensive approach to change she has shown recently, even though results have remained mixed on the field.

Will Gilbert eventually be the one to convince her and her family that a total change is needed? Stay tuned.