It has been less than a month since Tom Dundon officially took over as the Trail Blazers‘ controlling owner, but several reports in recent weeks have suggested he’s taking a penny-pinching approach to the role.
The Blazers were reportedly the only team not to bring their two-way players on the road for their first-round series; they have begun requiring support staffers to check out of their hotel rooms early in order to avoid incurring late check-out fees; and they reportedly want to pay their next permanent head coach a bargain-basement rate.
Bill Oram of The Oregonian (subscriber link) shares a few more details on the cost-cutting measures happening in Portland, writing that the team reduced the number of people in its traveling party for last week’s play-in game in Phoenix and the first-round series in San Antonio, leaving behind its digital reporter and award-winning team photographer, among others. The Blazers also haven’t sent a scout to the Timberwolves/Nuggets games despite the fact that they would face the winner of that series if they upset San Antonio, Oram adds.
According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, interim head coach Tiago Splitter expressed frustration to a confidant last Tuesday when the team’s masseuse, having had to leave her hotel room to avoid a late check-out fee, had nowhere to provide players with treatment ahead of that night’s play-in game in Phoenix.
As Quick explains, all the changes stem from an edict that Dundon gave to Blazers management when he assumed control of the franchise.
“The directive was, ‘Why are we wasting money? Let’s think about this prudently,'” a team source told Quick. “Essentially he was saying, ‘Let’s make things like (the traveling party) be about who needed to be there, not it-would-be-nice-if-they-come.'”
According to Quick and Oram, the Blazers spent lavishly on various non-essential perks under the former ownership of the late Paul Allen, who was one of the richest men in the world. While it may be true that the organization became a “bloated enterprise” under Allen, it seems as if Dundon is determined to over-correct in the other direction, Oram writes, making the team the NBA’s “most spendthrift organization.”
“I think (Dundon) thinks this is just the beginning,” a team source told The Athletic. “I think he thinks this is just what taking over franchises is, where you have to change things. He said he went through a lot of rough times (with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes) … but ultimately all people care about now is winning. So what I think is accurate is him being cheap as it relates to stuff that in his mind does not impact player performance.”
Both Quick and Oram agree that Dundon has a reputation for cutting costs in other areas so that he can invest more money in players and the on-court product, with Quick suggesting that the new Blazers owner is prepared to go into luxury tax territory next season if it’s necessary to land an impact player.
However, Oram questions whether on-court and off-court spending can really be siloed off from one another, observing that spending reductions in one area will be felt in another, including the locker room. And while he may be more willing to spend on talent, Dundon runs the risk of alienating top players, coaches, and other personnel if he isn’t willing to invest in his team’s infrastructure, one league source points out to Quick.
“He’s already established that he’s very cheap,” that source said. “And I know he doesn’t love Oregon, and is concerned that it is a state that can’t draw free agents. Well, with all due respect, you’re not helping the cause of drawing free agents when you treat everyone like s–t there.”
Multiple sources who spoke to Quick pushed back on a recent report stating that Dundon only wants to pay his head coach a salary in the $1-1.5MM range, with one team source stating that’s “just not true” and that the new owner is focused on finding the “best person” for the job. Still, it remains to be seen whether the Blazers will be willing to pay the going rate for that “best” candidate.
Oram (Twitter links) hears that the team isn’t solely shopping in the bargain aisle and did want to touch base with Michael Malone but would have been looking to pay him about half of what he eventually got from UNC.
According to Oram, Malone declined to talk to the Blazers because their job isn’t technically even open at this point. Splitter has done an admirable job filling in for Chauncey Billups after Billups’ October arrest, and while a team source insists that Splitter will be the “leading candidate” in the search, Dundon has cast a wide net in searching for potential alternatives, according to Quick, who names Josh Schertz (St. Louis University), Ben McCollum (Iowa), and Tom Thibodeau as coaches the Blazers have reached out to, though he notes that Thibodeau is no longer a candidate.
Those leaks have put Splitter in an awkward position as he attempts to lead the Blazers to their first playoff series victory since 2019.
“The amount of disrespect (toward Splitter) that’s going on is beyond description,” one league source told The Athletic. “It’s like, every day a new name is coming up. It’s the most vicious thing I’ve encountered in 30-plus years.”
“This is what Tom is good at — talking to 100 people and getting data,” a Blazers source said to Quick. “What he is learning quickly is that unlike hockey — where nobody cares — in basketball if you talk to 100 people, 70 will tell people.”
As bad as the PR around Dundon has been so far, several of his longtime associates tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that the public criticism won’t faze him at all. Quick has heard a similar sentiment from his own sources.
“I ought to tell you, I don’t think he gives a rat’s ass what is said about him,” a league source told The Athletic. “Most owners care. They insulate themselves because they care very much about their image and profile. He doesn’t give a f–k. He doesn’t even flinch with this stuff.”
“His heart is in the right place,” a team source insisted to Quick. “He is going to build this thing into a winner, I know it. And I know three years from now, or five years from now, people are going to love it. But over the next 12 months, they are going to hate it.”
This is wild. Reminds me back in the day I had a contact with the Clippers and he told me cheap Sterling asked one time,
“Why do we have to buy their socks?”
Just please for god sake don’t move the team
Someone named Klay Ebbet with a mustache is going to buy and move the team to Tulsa
They will be in Vegas in 2 years. The Blazers owner is just a carbon copy of the Oakland A’s John Fisher.
If the blazers spend in the luxury tax then dundon is doing his job, but if he makes the blazers not spend on player salary then he will be an absolute liability to the league
Him not wanting to spend on a coach is already a bad sign
Dude wouldn’t pay to have Portland’s two-way players come to San Antonio. Those guys were part of the reason they got there and this is the message ownership is telling them?
“According to Quick and Oram, the Blazers spent lavishly on various non-essential perks under the former ownership of the late Paul Allen, who was one of the richest men in the world.”
It should also be noted that Tom Dundon is one of the richest men in the world.
Relative to everyone on the planet, yes. Relative to other NBA owners, he’d be on the lower end.
My point is he is rich enough to spend money on the team he just bought with his massive wealth. He’s in The Club, it doesn’t matter if he’s on the ‘lower end’ of it. He bought the team, he should pay what it takes to run it. No excuses.
All NBA owners are wealthy but Dundon isn’t even top 20 in network wealth. In comparison the #3 guy, Dan Gilbert, is worth 10x more. Dundon is estimated to be worth $3 billion. that likely isn’t even top 500 in the world.
“Dundon is estimated to be worth $3 billion. that likely isn’t even top 500 in the world.”
There’s like 8 billion people in the world. “He’s not even top 500” is a pretty ridiculous thing to say when we’re talking about hotel late fees and bringing a few extra team people to San Antonio.
He bought the team, he should spend some of his enormous wealth to run it. Otherwise, he shouldn’t have bought it. His behavior is inexcusable.
What a strange world we are living in. Last season Splitter was coaching a Euroleague club, where his salary was in 350k euros range, but all of sudden 4 times more than that is insulting.
Average head coach salary in the NBA is $7 million. $1.6-1.7 million would be insulting.
But if average salary was 20m, then 7m would be insulting. If he can find someone he likes for the job who’s willing to do it for 1.6m, it’s well within his right to do so. Even if he was willing to pay someone 20m, there’s no guarantee it would ultimately work better.
@Marko: It’s almost as if the NBA is much, much higher stakes and makes way, way more money than the friggin Euroleague. NBA makes about 20x the revenue of the Euroleague. So lets 20x Splitter’s salary from the Euroleague and pay him 7 million euros next year.
I will never understand people who go out of their way to defend losers like Dundon who merely use other people to enrich themselves.
Don’t know if Sgarpe is 100% back. He needsvto show up. Scoot too. Deni needs help.
I thought Luke’s response last chat was spot on
In hockey chopping a quarter mill here and a 100 k there goes a long long way , basketball not so much at all
Perhaps he needs an adjustment period
Typical hedge fund behavior. Only pay the top talent. Squeeze everyone else. Sports is now mostly business, at least for this owner it seems. Wonder what his background is ? … but I’m not interested enough to go check him out.
He got his money as a sub-prime auto lender…scumbag tactics. Nothing admirable…just willing to be the worst.
Disgusting behavior, mega-wealthy Americans gotta be the worst people on the planet. Why do they feel the need to not spend on the things we all want?
lol he’s going to run this team into the ground. Cheaping out at every measure imagine when it comes to extension. Even the coaches he is looking at are going to be bottom tier hahaha
Blame the league and other owners for approving of this sale. Great work, guys. Maybe spend less time on your European adventure and more time on properly vetting new prospective owners.
Next we’ll hear DOGE has been brought in to supposedly trim the fat.
“spend more time on properly vetting new prospective owners.” a billion times this. All USA sports leagues need to start pointing fingers at the top. Start enforcing owner rules you can make up yourself, like, “Owner must spend any amount of money to put a better product on the field or to improve the fan experience”, or “Owners who own tanking teams should be removed if they do it more than 1 year in a row.” – stuff like that.
What John Fisher did in Oakland should never be allowed to happen again, and the Blazers are 100% headed down that route – remember Fisher was the first owner to try and not pay his minor leaguers when covid happened – and every single thing this Blazers guy has said leads us all to believe he is 100% angling to move the team to Vegas.
“According to Oram, Malone declined to talk to the Blazers because their job isn’t technically even open at this point.”
Good, unlike Dundon Malone is a man with decent values.
Must be a nice feeling for Splitter to coach your team to the playoffs, while reading which coaches your team has contacted now to potentially replace you.
Waive Blake Wesley and sign Caleb Love to a standard contract
Love does deserve some love
Tiago does deserve another look on a one year contract maybe and see how the team progresses
Problem solved. Two guys who have played a combined 20 minutes with the team maybe don’t account for much nor will be with the team next season. Back in the day two way contracts didn’t exist
Didi Louzada is still getting paid and for four more years