$2.3bn NBA owner could relocate team from city amid Ja Morant trade and bold arena plans

The Portland Trail Blazers are undergoing a huge transformation period.

Having brought back long-standing veteran Damian Lillard to the team after two years away with the Milwaukee Bucks last summer, the Trail Blazers have now bolstered their backcourt further with the acquisition of Ja Morant.

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News broke on Monday of the blockbuster deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, which brought the two-time NBA All-Star to the Rip City in exchange for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.

It was a bold move for a team looking to re-establish themselves as consistent playoff contenders after breaking their four-year drought in the 2025-26 campaign.

This is due to Morant having dealt with several off-court issues over the course of his career, as well as injury concerns, featuring in just 79 games over the last three seasons.

But, the Blazers felt like it was worth the punt on the 26-year-old who was once the face of the Grizzlies franchise.

“They felt like they had to take a swing based on the talent that Ja Morant has, in hopes that he has a chip on his shoulder for motivation to turn his career around,” ESPN insider Shams Charania said on Monday.

“I will add one more note: the Blazers did speak to Ja Morant today shortly after the trade. I’m told he expressed to them that he’s excited to be in Portland.”

These claims made by Charania appeared to be backed up by Morant, who wrote on Instagram – before quickly deleting – “Stay low, stay working. Nothing confuses people more than a comeback they never saw being built.”

He wrote under another post, “I stopped chasing approval and started chasing the feeling I almost forgot.

“They tried to bury my passion under doubt. All they did was give it fresh oxygen.”

Across his seven-year career in the NBA, Morant has featured in 327 games where he has averaged 22.4 points per game, shooting at 46.6 percent from the field, to go with 4.6 rebounds, 7.4 assists and a steal.

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Dundon could relocate team out of Portland after all

Morant may not be the only one getting a fresh start with the Oregon outfit, with news suggesting that changes could be on the horizon for the entire Trail Blazers team.

It didn’t take long for Tom Dundon – worth an estimated $2.3 billion – who purchased the team earlier this year to implement some serious changes to the organization.

Dundon, who is also the majority owner of the NHL franchise Carolina Hurricanes, made several cost-cutting measures to the Blazers, including the omission of the team’s two-way players at road games in their playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs.

He also had a mass lay-off of employees, in which an approximate 70 people were made redundant, which saw Dundon come under extreme fire from fans.

But he doesn’t appear to be done yet.

In fact, in light of the news that a public funding package worth $365 million to help with the $600 million cost to renovate the Moda Center is on the verge of collapse, Dundon could now be looking to pivot and take the team out of Portland entirely.

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“This new owner is deep in negotiations over an arena deal that could potentially spell the end of the Trail Blazers in Portland,” Bill Oram of The Oregonian said to SiriusXM when discussing the “insulting” acquisition of Morant to the team.

Despite having previously stated, and reassured fans, that he would not do this, Dundon certainly wouldn’t be the first billionaire to go back on his word.

However, nothing is yet for certain, and only time will tell on that front.

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