Since purchasing the Portland Trail Blazers in late March, new owner Tom Dundon has implemented some interesting business practices. Most of these actions could be justified as “business decisions,” but it is evident that these moves have hurt his reputation as a franchise owner.
Aside from his previously ill-received decisions, Tom Dundon recently took things a step further by letting go of over 70 Portland Trail Blazers employees. While this aligns with his aggressive cost-cutting approach, Dundon justified his actions during a recent interview with The Oregonian’s Bill Oram.
While drawing attention to his experience as the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, Dundon stated:
“They have twice as many people as we have in Carolina, and my experience is that less layers gives people more accountability and they do a better job. Then you know that you’re getting a great job done and you don’t end up in the situation where many companies end up, which is everyone’s looking around for somebody else to do it, complaining about what’s fair and not fair.”
On paper, it is difficult to argue with Dundon’s approach, primarily due to how effective it has been for the Carolina Hurricanes. After nine consecutive years of missing the playoffs, the Hurricanes earned their first playoff berth in 2018, Dundon’s first year as the new franchise owner, and have consistently appeared in the playoffs since.
Given that it is difficult to dispute the results, Dundon’s methods seem valid. However, the Blazers’ owner built upon this, adding:
“People are happier when they’re busy and productive. That is the way I think things should be done. And more people just create more problems, usually. I think Portland just had too many people. I just asked them to look at it, and I think they came to the same conclusion.”
From refusing to send two-way players on the road to denying fans playoff shirts, Tom Dundon’s tenure has had a rough start. While the new owner remains set in his ways, he is also brutally aware of how business and basketball are separate.
“This was mostly on the business side. The basketball, they’re two separate businesses,” he noted. “Taking care of the players is not… We don’t have a budget for that. It’s whatever it takes to put them in the best position to win. That’s what we’re going to do. The business I’m going to run is like you run every other business.”
While his approach is criticized, it is evident that Tom Dundon is committed to winning. Given that the Blazers made their first playoff appearance in five years this season, it can be argued that Dundon may be on the right track.
Portland is undergoing some massive organizational changes. While Dundon is currently facing tremendous scrutiny, the Blazers’ owner doesn’t seem too concerned with this noise.
Currently, Portland’s first offseason priority will be finding a head coach to replace Tiago Splitter. While Splitter remains in the race alongside former Blazers head coach Terry Stotts and former Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, Dundon’s unwillingness to pay the league-average salary may limit the number of interested candidates.
