Since March 31st, the Portland Trail Blazers have been under new management. For a whopping $4.25 billion, Tom Dundon (who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes) finalized his takeover of the franchise, charting the team in a new direction he hopes will bring great success.
Unfortunately for Dundon, his tenure has gotten off to a rocky start. For now, the controversy centers on his drastic cost-cutting measures, which include lowballing coaching candidates, stripping staff of complimentary tickets, and canceling late hotel checkouts. In a recent chat with Joe Freeman of The Oregonian, the Blazers owner responded to critics and offered insight into why he’s running the team this way.
“I just don’t want to waste money. I want to invest it,” Dundon said. “I’ll have many masseuses. I’ll have the best food. We’re going to take care of the players because it helps you win. It’s part of the deal. Some of the stuff about how we’re going to run the business; Portland spends $100MM more a year on their business than the Hurricanes do, not including players. The Hurricanes, since I bought the team, have the first or second-best record in the league. So, I’m just not going to waste $100MM, just because somebody wants to write an article calling me cheap. I’m just not going to do it. And so, it’s hard because I don’t think about a budget when it comes to the playing team and how to make sure we win. Some of the stuff that was blamed on money is actually not 100% true.”
One of Dundon’s most controversial moves was not allowing the Blazers’ two-way players, including Caleb Love, Chris Youngblood, and Jayson Kent, to travel with the team for the first two games of the series in San Antonio. Dundon chalked it up as a mistake, but he also called it a “distraction.” Clearly, the man is all about business, and his first instinct isn’t to provide people or services that are entirely unnecessary.
“I just made a mistake. I just don’t understand the league,” he said. “In hockey, we don’t travel extra people, because we’re not on vacation. We’re here to win, so we don’t want a distraction. The NBA seems to live with those distractions. It’s not how I think about it. So, you’ve got to learn what the differences are between the two leagues.”
Regarding his decision to force his staff to check out of hotel rooms early, Dundon showed no remorse or regret. According to him, there was an issue with the booking, and the hotel was pressuring the team to leave so they could open up more rooms. Instead of paying for an extra night for everyone, as the hotel requested, Dundon paid only for the coaches and players, forcing his staff to work in a ballroom. It’s not the standard behavior for an NBA owner, but
“I would do it again. I think it’s actually pretty stupid to think that people who are there to work, who are being fed, and 45 minutes later — they weren’t in the lobby — they brought their bags down in the room right by where the bus was, right next to my bag. And we sat down there and talked. And if that’s too hard for people, I’m not right for them. I want that culture.”
As much as the fans are divided about the new owner, many are more worried about potentially losing the team. Dundon’s recent comments suggested he was considering relocating the Trail Blazers, but he has since denied any intention of moving the franchise.
“When I bought the Hurricanes, all I heard — because I was from Texas — we were going to move the team to Houston. Moving a team is difficult. We didn’t move the Hurricanes. We ended up getting a deal done. We went through the same thing in Portland. Before I even bought the team, I had an agreement with the city and the state. We had an agreement in principle. They’ve already approved half of it. Assuming that all gets done, then this is a non-story. For me, it’s never been really a thing. We didn’t buy the team to move it. We bought the Portland Trail Blazers.”
In many ways, it’s a new era in Portland, but many fans aren’t sure whether it’s better or worse than the one that came before it. For a small-market team, it’s nothing new for the owner to act frugally, but his cost-cutting threatens to undermine his staff’s effectiveness.
Then again, he’s not new to the ownership role. He’s led the NHL’s Hurricanes to prosperity for years now, and he believes he can pull something similar for the Blazers. The only catch is that he won’t waste a bunch of money on the way. Whether you love or hate how he operates, Dundon won’t change for anyone, and he’s determined to bring a title to Portland on his own terms.
