Trail Blazers Reportedly Lay Off About 70 Employees

The Trail Blazers have laid off approximately 70 employees from their business operations department, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (via Twitter).

Longtime Blazers.com reporter Casey Holdahl confirmed he was among the employees let go (Twitter link).

President of business operations Dewayne Hankins released a statement regarding the decision, as Joe Freeman of The Oregonian relays (All Twitter links).

“Today, as part of our plans to position the organization for the future, we made the difficult decision to restructure several areas of the business,” Hankins said. “These changes impacted talented people who have helped shape the Trail Blazers over many years. We are deeply grateful for their contributions, their leadership and the care they showed every day for our team, our fans and the Portland community.

“Our focus now is supporting those affected through the transition and positioning the organization for long-term success.”

It’s the first of what could be many major changes under new majority owner Tom Dundon, who addressed some of the accusations of cheapness have followed him last week in a podcast appearance. Dundon, who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, claimed he was willing to spend on the players, but suggested the business side wasn’t being run to his satisfaction.

“I just don’t want to waste money. I want to invest it,” Dundon said. “I’ll have many masseuses. I’ll have the best food. We’re going to take care of the players, because it helps you win. It’s part of the deal. Some of the stuff about how we’re going to run the business; Portland spends $100MM more a year on their business than the Hurricanes do, not including players.

“The Hurricanes, since I bought the team, have the first or second-best record in the league. So, I’m just not going to waste $100MM, just because somebody wants to write an article calling me cheap. I’m just not going to do it. And so, it’s hard because I don’t think about a budget when it comes to the playing team and how to make sure we win. Some of the stuff that was blamed on money is actually not 100% true.”