$2.3bn NBA owner under fire following ‘cheap’ move in unprecedented cost-cutting

Tom Dundon is already taking cost-cutting measures.

Having officially assumed ownership of the Portland Trail Blazers after striking a deal worth an estimated $4.25 billion with the Paul G. Allen estate, Dundon has already begun to make his mark.

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The Trail Blazers reached their first NBA playoff series since the 2020-21 season, with the emergence of Deni Avdija as a focal point of the team in veteran Damian Lillard‘s absence after missing the regular season with a torn Achilles.

They lost their opening game of the first round against No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night, as 35-point Victor Wembanyama led the home team to a 111-98 victory on Sunday.

Ahead of Sunday’s clash in Texas, though, it was revealed by Blazers insider Sean Highkin that the team didn’t bring their two-way players on the road, at the request of billionaire Dundon, who also owns the NHL franchise Carolina Hurricanes.

Rip City are the only one of the seven road teams in the Association that didn’t do so seeing Caleb Love, Chris Youngblood and Jayson Kent sat at home watching Game 1 and 2.

They are ineligible to play in the playoffs, but merely being present in practice and contributing off the court is an invaluable experience to those players.

Furthermore, it was a decision that Highkin described as ‘insulting’, especially to that of Love.

“It’s particularly insulting in the case of Love, whose scoring outbursts helped win the Blazers several games in December and January while they were decimated by backcourt injuries—including a 16-point performance in a Jan. 3 road victory over Portland’s current playoff opponent, the Spurs,” Highkin wrote.

“Love and Sidy Cissoko were instrumental in getting the Blazers through that stretch of the season, going well beyond the kind of minutes and production that teams with playoff aspirations normally expect from their two-ways.”

Red flags popping up everywhere

But this isn’t the only thing that Dundon – who is worth an estimated $2.3 billion – has actioned since purchasing the team.

As the Blazers get set to undergo vast – and highly necessary – renovations to the Moda Center, with $600 million set to be poured into bringing the arena up to today’s NBA standards, Dundon has been cutting costs elsewhere.

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There have also been a plethora of reports that he has been lowballing head coaching candidates, as the team seek a full-time appointment following Chauncey Billups’ arrest for his alleged involvement in a sports gambling probe back in October.

Tiago Splitter – who won an NBA title with the Spurs back in 2014 – has been at the helm as interim head coach, where despite leading the young team to the playoffs, has yet to secure the position full time.

With the standard NBA rate about $4 million for a head coach, reports have suggested that Dundon doesn’t want to pay over $1.5 million annually.

“It’s no reflection on the admirable job Tiago Splitter has done as Portland’s interim coach since replacing Chauncey Billups before Game 2 of an 82-game season,” Jake Fischer wrote for The Stein Line.

“The consistent word for weeks about new Blazers owner Tom Dundon is his apparent desire to pay no more than $1.5 million annually for a new head coach. That’s well below the current NBA standard … even for a first-time head coach.

“From $1 million to $1.5 million is actually the price range for the league’s top assistant coaches, but Portland’s desire to spend so modestly on a full-time replacement for Billups has been widely communicated and figures to have a significant impact on the process no matter how attractive an NBA head coaching position — there’s only 30 in the world and all that — looks on paper.”

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Furthermore, the amount that Dundon is willing to spend on hiring a new shot-caller is less than some coaches make coaching the top colleges in the nation.

Other reports have also highlighted other cost-cutting ramifications for Blazers staff, with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix revealing that team staffers spent much of one Tuesday afternoon with their bags in the lobby of the team’s Phoenix hotel in an effort to avoid paying for a late checkout.

Additionally, team president Dewayne Hankins announced on Friday, via Guillermo Motta, that the Trail Blazers wouldn’t be providing playoff t-shirts as a fan giveaway when the series returns to Portland for Game 3 and 4.

However, there are reports that there is something else planned instead.

Nonetheless, Dundon has not even been the owner of the team for a full month, and has already ruffled some feathers, with these early decisions perhaps setting a precedent for what is to come during his ownership rein.

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