Jayson Kent

Tom Dundon‘s reputation for thriftiness has become a punchline throughout the NBA since he took over as owner of the Trail Blazers in late March, so it was bound to be a topic when he appeared on the Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul. Dundon, who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, told the hosts that he has a track record of being willing to spend to make that franchise successful, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian relays in a subscriber-only story.

“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.”

Among the stories painting Dundon as cheap was a report in April that he didn’t have two-way players Caleb Love, Chris Youngblood and Jayson Kent travel with the team for the first two games of a playoff series in San Antonio. Dundon called that decision a result of being new to the league, saying he didn’t realize that bringing those players is common practice.

“I just made a mistake. I just don’t understand the league,” he said. “In hockey, we don’t travel extra people, because we’re not on vacation. We’re here to win, so we don’t want a distraction. The NBA seems to live with those distractions. It’s not how I think about it. So, you’ve got to learn what’s the differences between the two leagues.”

Freeman passes on several more Dundon quotes from the interview:

On reports that he had staffers check out of their Phoenix hotel rooms early to avoid paying for an extra day:

“The hotel story with the staff is an interesting story, I think, because, normally, when you travel, you get late checkout, right? In this case, in sports, it’s usually like 5% and never comes up. Because it was last-minute — going to Phoenix, there was no hotels — I guess Phoenix in March is a pretty popular place. So, I had trouble getting hotels. And the hotel really wanted us to be out early because they needed the rooms. And so, they wanted us to pay for a second night. And so, we did that for the coaches and the players. But we got (them) to let us leave at 1 o’clock. And I had a room at the hotel. I was there. So, I’m like, lunch starts at 1:45. We have a huge ballroom with this really nice lunch for everybody. So, I said, ‘Look, we’ll do the players and the coaches. We’ll stay. We’ll pay the extra night. For the staff, we’ve got this big ballroom with food. We’ll go down there and work.’ And everyone was down there. I was down there. I actually learned a lot during that hour, because I got to talk to some of the training staff, etc.

“I would do it again. I think it’s actually pretty stupid to think that people who are there to work, who are being fed, and 45 minutes later — they weren’t in the lobby — they brought their bags down in the room right by where the bus was, right next to my bag. And we sat down there and talked. And if that’s too hard for people, I’m not right for them. I want that culture.”

On whether he’s willing to pay the luxury tax to build a winning team:

“(General manager) Joe (Cronin) called me — and I don’t even know if it was allowed — he called me at the trade deadline. Technically we didn’t own the team yet, (but) he had a deal — actually two different deals — but one in particular where we would have gone into the tax. And it would have been whatever, $20 million. I was fine with it. I want to run the business properly. But I want to win more than I want to make money. And that seems kind of obvious if you’re in this business, right? Winning is the only reason you do it. Why would you buy a team?

“And so, obviously … a lot comes with staying in that tax in the NBA, right? They’ve made the rules in a way that it’s complicated. But to go in strategically because you can pick up a young player or have a chance to win … we would definitely do it. And I’ve got to think most people would. I don’t know many owners that wouldn’t do that. I don’t think we operate any differently. I hope we’re … in a position where going in the tax means we have a chance to win. And if we have a chance to win, the tax is irrelevant.”

On rumors that the Blazers might leave Portland:

“When I bought the Hurricanes, all I heard — because I was from Texas — we were going to move the team to Houston. Moving a team is difficult. We didn’t move the Hurricanes. We ended up getting a deal done. We went through the same thing in Portland. Before I even bought the team, I had an agreement with the city and the state. We had an agreement in principle. They’ve already approved half of it. Assuming that all gets done, then this is a non-story. For me, it’s never been really a thing. We didn’t buy the team to move it. We bought the Portland Trail Blazers.”

Tom Dundon‘s penny-pinching reputation since taking over as owner of the Trail Blazers continues to grow. Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report states in a subscriber-only story that Portland didn’t bring two-way players Caleb Love, Chris Youngblood and Jayson Kent to San Antonio for the first two games of its first-round playoff series.

Players on two-way contracts aren’t eligible to appear in the postseason, but it’s common practice to have them accompany their teams on road trips. Highkin checked with sources from the other seven teams that were on the road this weekend and confirmed that they all brought their two-way players, even though they were in street clothes. Highkin describes the Blazers’ decision as “well outside of standard practice” for NBA teams.

He points out that it’s “particularly insulting” for Love, a rookie shooting guard, who turned in several high-scoring performances in December and January when the team’s backcourt was dealing with multiple injuries. Highkin notes that Love and Sidy Cissoko, who was promoted to a standard contract in February after reaching his 50-game limit, both played important roles in helping the Blazers survive that stretch and giving them the opportunity to reach the playoffs.

As Highkin notes, there have been several “red flags” regarding Dundon’s reluctance to shell out money since he bought the team.

Jake Fischer of The Stein Line recently reported that Dundon doesn’t want to spend more than $1.5MM on his next head coach, which is closer to the price range of top NBA assistants. That has led to speculation that interim head coach Tiago Splitter might not return after taking over following Chauncey Billups‘ gambling arrest and leading Portland to its first playoff appearance since 2021. Fischer also stated that the Blazers had exploratory talks with 20 college and international coaches in hopes of finding someone willing to accept the job at a discounted rate.

Dundon also reportedly had support staff check out of their hotel rooms in Phoenix at noon last Tuesday to avoid paying for an extra day. Staff members sat in the hotel lobby for several hours in their team gear as they waited for the first bus to the arena.