The NBA’s trade deadline ticked down on Thursday.

But the hand-wringing is just beginning at City Hall.

Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish said on Thursday that he expects the city’s NBA team to be sold in the wake of owner Paul Allen’s death last year. Fish is concerned that new Trail Blazers ownership might seek to relocate the team.

“The clear sense I’ve received from Blazers management is that this team will be put on the block at some point,” Fish said. “I’ve been told the estate will take about five to six years to be settled.

"We expect the team will be put on the market.”

The Trail Blazers’ lease with the city of Portland runs through 2025. It includes iron-clad language that would ensure the team stays through at least 2023. But it’s the uncertainty that Fish and some others would like to put to rest in front of a potential sale. And I don’t blame him.

Be clear, the NBA is working in Portland.

The Blazers will likely make the playoffs and have a functional home arena. Through 30 home dates, they’ve drawn more than 582,000 fans. The franchise is eighth in the league in home attendance (19,400). Also, Forbes released its valuations of the league’s franchises this week, putting the Blazers and their home arena at $1.6 billion.

Allen bought the team in 1988 for $70 million.

Commissioner Adam Silver would have a difficult time pitching a potential move of the Portland NBA franchise to the public and other league owners as an urgent matter. But Fish and some other city leaders know how quickly things can change. They also know Seattle would love to have an NBA team.

“It’s a huge wildcard and it reminds us we can’t take anything for granted in the Rose Quarter,” Fish said. “We have to do everything we can to make clear to a future owner that we want the Trail Blazers to stay here. It casts a shadow over development plans in the Rose Quarter and puts a cloud over a future owner of the team."

The Sonics left Seattle in front of the 2008-09 season after efforts failed to secure $220 million in public funding for KeyArena improvements. Howard Schultz sold the Sonics to an investment group led by an Oklahoma City businessman named Clay Bennett, who then whisked the NBA team off to his home city.

The Blazers have no such arena issues. But the timing of the potential sale and the expiration of the NBA franchise’s lease make for a tricky transition to new NBA ownership. Anyone potentially buying the team would want that lease matter settled, and also, desire the area around the venue to be more vibrant.

“The current lease with the Blazers is very favorable to the city,” Fish said. “I would expect the renegotiation of that lease to be more challenging."

Fish said he’d like to see Portland with a Major League Baseball team. He likes the effort put together by the Portland Diamond Project. He also thinks Portland could support an NHL franchise in addition to the wildly successful Timbers and Thorns franchises.

Fish said: “Wouldn’t it be great to see baseball, soccer, basketball and an NHL team in our city? It’s conceivable that a new owner would want to relocate a team... it may be a stretch, but we can’t take that for granted."

City leaders have worked hard over the years to come up with a way to activate the Rose Quarter and re-connect it with the historic Albina District. Plans and visions have come and gone. Fish said, “they’ve all fallen short." But he sounded hopeful that the latest development effort could help bring jobs and residents back to the area, and also, help keep the NBA team in Portland.

“Between Legacy hospital and Veterans Memorial Coliseum we relocated a lot of people and disrupted the area," Fish said. "It’s about healing wounds. But that vision is going to be very hard to advance without the full participation of the ownership of the Trail Blazers.”

What’s clear is that the Blazers are being transparent with the city. Also, it’s clear based on the valuations that NBA franchises have become terrific investments.

The Milwaukee Bucks franchise valuation, according to Forbes, is $1.35 billion. An ownership group led by Oregon State graduate Wes Edens bought the team for $550 million just four years ago and dumped the Bucks‘ aging arena in exchange for Fiserv Forum.

NBA franchises in Atlanta, Utah and Minnesota have all completed major renovations attempting to attract sponsorship opportunities and state-of-the-art seating packages. Portland completed a $16 million renovation to its home arena four seasons ago.

I’m on record that I think the Blazers would benefit from new ownership. Fresh ideas. Renewed passion. Perhaps a local ownership group led by Timbers/Thorns owner Merrit Paulson and his father, Henry, would be exactly what the franchise needs to truly lift off.

Still, the uncertainty scares some city leaders.

Said Fish: “We can’t take anything for granted."