Plan is to keep team in Portland.

https://www.sportico.com/business/team-sales/2025/dundon-portland-trail-blazers-sale-paul-allen-1234866910/

Step One: show Bert Kolde the door, take the keys.

Step Two: exorcism and/or sage burning

Step Three: discover a strategy to convince city leaders to invest in stadium renovations

The Celtics went for $6 billion. This looks like a steal, right? 🤑

Unfortunately, I don’t see Portland investing much of anything into the Moda center/Rose Garden anytime soon. Businesses have left the downtown core area, and vacancy rates in commercial spaces are at an all time high.

The city “leaders” are faced with a $100 million budget shortfall. Replacing businesses that have relocated, or simply closed their doors will not be that easy.

Good news for local NBA fans. The team is young and their potential looks better than it has for several years.

14 minutes ago, Drake said:

Unfortunately, I don’t see Portland investing much of anything into the Moda center/Rose Garden anytime soon. Businesses have left the downtown core area, and vacancy rates in commercial spaces are at an all time high.

The city “leaders” are faced with a $100 million budget shortfall. Replacing businesses that have relocated, or simply closed their doors will not be that easy.

Good news for local NBA fans. The team is young and their potential looks better than it has for several years.

And, buildings are being fire-sold which puts a damper on property taxes. Finding investment dollars in this budget climate will not be easy. If they don't, the team could end up moving after all.

And yet, have put together a MLB package.

3 hours ago, idontrollonshobbas said:

And, buildings are being fire-sold which puts a damper on property taxes. Finding investment dollars in this budget climate will not be easy. If they don't, the team could end up moving after all.

Raleigh is ripe for a NBA team. It’s one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country and is a hot bed for sports. They would also draw many fans from nearby Durham and Chapel Hill. Also, the Lenovo Center is already decked out in red and black because it houses Canes hockey and Wolfpack basketball.

My thought is Dundan will give it a couple of years in Portland and see how the revenue does. By then the parking garages will be finished at the Lenovo Center and making the move would be a bit more palatable. If a new arena starts going up in The Triangle then we will see the writing on the wall.

4 hours ago, idontrollonshobbas said:

Plan is to keep team in Portland.

https://www.sportico.com/business/team-sales/2025/dundon-portland-trail-blazers-sale-paul-allen-1234866910/

Step One: show Bert Kolde the door, take the keys.

Step Two: exorcism and/or sage burning

Step Three: discover a strategy to convince city leaders to invest in stadium renovations

One thing I can say about Tom Dundon is he’s not afraid to pay for high priced talent. The Canes have been to the doorstep of the Stanley Cup finals for a few years now.

1 hour ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

And yet, have put together a MLB package.

Well, kind of.....the State legislature passed a jock tax bill. Zero general fund dollars though.....they want to sell $800 million in bonds based on future player taxes.

Generous projections peg these tax estimates at $150 million. Besides, a stadium could cost $2-3 billion. So, the public piece of the deal is necessary but insufficient. So, we need owners who are aggressive and deep-pocketed to fend off the Miller Family in SLC before Portland MLB is even a 50-50 proposition.

NOTE: I may be wrong on some of these details since it is more of a hope than a strategy at this point

Edited Thursday at 12:47 AM5 days by idontrollonshobbas

2 hours ago, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

Raleigh is ripe for a NBA team. It’s one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country and is a hot bed for sports. They would also draw many fans from nearby Durham and Chapel Hill. Also, the Lenovo Center is already decked out in red and black because it houses Canes hockey and Wolfpack basketball.

My thought is Dundan will give it a couple of years in Portland and see how the revenue does. By then the parking garages will be finished at the Lenovo Center and making the move would be a bit more palatable. If a new arena starts going up in The Triangle then we will see the writing on the wall.

Doubt it, minority owners have ties to Portland, Dundon is based in Dallas so it isn't like he's bringing a team to his hometown. Raleigh is still smaller than Portland, Charlotte a city that is bigger and also growing has a team that is struggling for attendance, and in the past has lost their team in the past. Jordan would be PISSED if the NBA approved a move to Raleigh.

I'm not saying there isn't a chance that the Trail Blazers move, but the move is they will make is to Vegas, if anywhere. It would be a huge black eye on the league if they did to Portland what they did to Seattle.

When Dundon bought the Hurricanes people were very worried that he move the team then, he didn't so there is a little precedent there.

Edited Thursday at 02:16 AM5 days by spartan2785

"It would be a huge black eye on the league if they did to Portland what they did to Seattle."

The NBA already has several facial bruises and doesn't seem to mind. It might upset folks in Portland and Seattle, but I seriously doubt the NBA fan base elsewhere would care.

The Sonics left Seattle in 2008 and there hasn't been a groundswell across the NBA fanbase to replace them.

2 hours ago, HDuck said:

"It would be a huge black eye on the league if they did to Portland what they did to Seattle."

The NBA already has several facial bruises and doesn't seem to mind. It might upset folks in Portland and Seattle, but I seriously doubt the NBA fan base elsewhere would care.

The Sonics left Seattle in 2008 and there hasn't been a groundswell across the NBA fanbase to replace them.

I would say if you ask NBA fans if the Sonics should come back you would have overwhelming support from the common fan, will they not watch the NBA if they don't? No, but I doubt that would be the case for any franchise. NBA does have a black eye, and I'm pretty sure you'll see Seattle awarded a team in the next 5-10 years. The circumstances with Bennett are completely difference compared to this.

5 hours ago, spartan2785 said:

I would say if you ask NBA fans if the Sonics should come back you would have overwhelming support from the common fan, will they not watch the NBA if they don't? No, but I doubt that would be the case for any franchise. NBA does have a black eye, and I'm pretty sure you'll see Seattle awarded a team in the next 5-10 years. The circumstances with Bennett are completely difference compared to this.

Actually, the circumstances could be quite similar if the Moda Center is not renovated. There is a precedent in Raleigh that Dundon has enjoyed with the owners of the Lenovo Center and that is a deal to renovate the arena as needed and to develop a 80 acre entertainment district around it. The one thing I have learned from the Raiders, Rams, A's, Hornets and Sonics is that stadiums and arenas matter. All moved because they wanted new facilities. Dundon will move the Blazers if Portland drags their feet on the Moda Center.

I do think you are right about Vegas, though. An NBA franchise would solidify them as the Entertainment Capitol of the World, so I think they would give a team anything they wanted to come to move there.

I doubt a move to either Vegas or Seattle. The owners crave the expansion dollars that those cities are bringing to the table. Look at it this way: if the Blazers were to relocate to either city, would Portland be an expansion target? I seriously doubt it.

Sadly, if Portland doesn’t step up in terms of facilities, a move to Raleigh or perhaps Nashville is much more likely.

15 hours ago, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

Raleigh is ripe for a NBA team. It’s one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country and is a hot bed for sports. They would also draw many fans from nearby Durham and Chapel Hill. Also, the Lenovo Center is already decked out in red and black because it houses Canes hockey and Wolfpack basketball.

My thought is Dundan will give it a couple of years in Portland and see how the revenue does. By then the parking garages will be finished at the Lenovo Center and making the move would be a bit more palatable. If a new arena starts going up in The Triangle then we will see the writing on the wall.

I lived in Raleigh from 2011 through 2015. While it may not be a major city yet, it is one of the fastest growing in the US. And there is good reason for that. The climate is fairly mild, outside of a couple hot and humid summer months. The city is highly educated, with Duke, NC State, Wake, and UNC all within a direct shot. At one point I believe Raleigh had the highest percentage of residents holding a masters degree, when compared to all other cities in the US. Cost of living is reasonable, which allows for more activities outside of essentials. In my experience, there is a culture where the city is crazy about their sports teams. The food scene took off while I was living there too.

I could see why an NBA would find Raleigh very attractive. I love Raleigh. I have lived in many cities and several different states for work and Raleigh was my favorite (but I did miss seeing Duck games live).

Edited Thursday at 02:59 PM4 days by GeotechDuck

The NBA has a rule requiring existing teams the rights to reject new teams in their home territory. The Charlotte's home territory is considered North and South Carolina. I doubt the Hornets are going to OK a move a NBA team in Raleigh. Especially, when the last 2 years they had the lowest attendance in the NBA.

I have heard, Raleigh is a college town, not much of a professional team town. The Hurricanes do well enough with attendance, but I'm not sure a city with Duke, UNC and NCST would do well with a NBA team. I'd put in another professional team, that isn't basketball.

I think Raleigh would be attractive if Charlotte didn't already have a franchise.

One of the things that will be of interest to Dundon and others is partially the Moda Center getting upgrades, but also and perhaps even more important creating entertainment district around the Moda Center. This is where it would be more attractive to the City to invest in. There is already pretty good public transit there, but there really isn't anything to do. I would think any upgrades to arena will also be a part of a wider project to reinvigorate the area.

3 hours ago, Tandaian said:

The NBA has a rule requiring existing teams the rights to reject new teams in their home territory. The Charlotte's home territory is considered North and South Carolina. I doubt the Hornets are going to OK a move a NBA team in Raleigh. Especially, when the last 2 years they had the lowest attendance in the NBA.

I have heard, Raleigh is a college town, not much of a professional team town. The Hurricanes do well enough with attendance, but I'm not sure a city with Duke, UNC and NCST would do well with a NBA team. I'd put in another professional team, that isn't basketball.

They would actually only need a majority vote from the league's Board of Governors to approve them, but they can't infringe in territory with 75 air miles of an existing franchise. They also can't market in the other team's territory. Raleigh is the same distance from Charlotte as Portland is from Seattle which is roughly 130 air miles.

The Hurricanes are the biggest draw in the state. They top all team's total attendance by over 100,000 fans. (Panthers are #2). They average roughly 19K/game because they win. They win because they have good ownership and management. This is good news for the Blazers and good for Portland if they can keep them. The only drawback to bringing them to Raleigh is not too many arenas can handle a NBA, NHL and NCAAB season along with big name concerts. In fact, the Capital One Arena in Washington DC is the only one that does it right now.

Tom Dundon is also committed to bring a MLB franchise to Raleigh, so this guy is definitely a visionary with deep pockets.

19 hours ago, idontrollonshobbas said:

Well, kind of.....the State legislature passed a jock tax bill. Zero general fund dollars though.....they want to sell $800 million in bonds based on future player taxes.

Generous projections peg these tax estimates at $150 million. Besides, a stadium could cost $2-3 billion. So, the public piece of the deal is necessary but insufficient. So, we need owners who are aggressive and deep-pocketed to fend off the Miller Family in SLC before Portland MLB is even a 50-50 proposition.

NOTE: I may be wrong on some of these details since it is more of a hope than a strategy at this point

I didn’t say it was necessarily a good plan that will work 😆…but it does demonstrate some will to attract a theoretical franchise. Hopefully we can summon up the will to try to retain an existing franchise.

"I'm pretty sure you'll see Seattle awarded a team in the next 5-10 years."

If they do get a franchise, it will have nothing to do with a black eye over Sonics departure, or nation-wide fan interest. The only factor will be the NBA brass believing Seattle Metro is large enough, in comparison to other potential cities at that time, to support a team. And, some billionaire with enough dough to buy a franchise.