Trail Blazers rank 7th in Grantland’s logo ranking, change coming?

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The Portland Trail Blazers came in 7th in the NBA logo rankings compiled by Grantland.com’s Zach Lowe. Lowe declared last summer that the Blazers had the best team name in the NBA, citing the nod to Oregon’s pioneering history as well as the team’s Pinwheel logo.

In a ranking solely based on the logo, the Blazers came in 7th.

Lowe cites that some logo designers hate the Blazers traditional pinwheel logo, which has been around as long as the team itself, in different forms.

Lowe writes

This should be higher than no.  7, but the current pinwheel is drowning in a black mass. Set that baby free, Portland. Let it fly and spin. Some folks prefer the old straight up-and-down version, but the slanted edition gets at the sport’s fast pace.

The Blazers have had the black backdrop in the logo since the early 2000’s. That is what Lowe is referencing when he says that the pinwheel is drowning in a “black mass,” not to be confused with the soon-to-be released Whitey Bulger biopic “Black Mass,” starring Johnny Depp.

This sparked a twitter exchange between Lowe and TrailBlazers.com reporter Casey Holdahl. Holdahl tweeted to Lowe that the “wheels are in motion” about the black mass. So, one would assume that whatever the new Blazers logo is, the black backdrop won’t be a part of it.

The Blazers have done a good job not making the black backdrop a part of the court design. Surely fans will be excited to see the logo set free. But it will be interesting to see which direction the team goes and which colors it will choose for the pinwheel, which has always included red but currently includes silver as the top color.