Tom Dundon

Trail Blazers Notes: Billups, Dundon, Clingan, Avdija

December 6th, 2025 at 8:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, who was placed on unpaid leave by the NBA following his October 23 arrest on federal charges related to gambling, has reached an agreement to sell his home in Oregon, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (subscription required). A listing on Redfin states that the seller has accepted an offer on the Lake Oswego property, which had a $4.275MM list price.

Highkin suggests that the pending sale could be a sign that Billups has accepted that he no longer has a coaching future with the team, even if he’s acquitted on the charges he’s facing. Billups’ next court appearance isn’t until March 4, and the judge in the case has indicated that the trial won’t start until September. Tiago Splitter has been serving as interim coach since Billups was arrested.

Highkin states that Blazers officials may wait until the sale of the team to Tom Dundon‘s group becomes official before they announce a final decision on Billups. He adds that the team’s performance under Splitter for the rest of the season will help determine if the new ownership group decides to remove the interim tag and keep him in place or start fresh with a new coaching staff.

Billups is among 31 defendants in a case involving illegal poker games connected to the mafia that were allegedly rigged through the use of doctored shuffling machines, marked cards and tables with built-in X-ray machines. He’s accused of being a “face card” whose reputation helped to attract big-money players to the games, and he could face up to 20 years in prison for each of two charges if convicted.

There’s more from Portland:

Dundon is nearing an agreement to sell a limited partner stake in the Carolina Hurricanes as he gets set to take over the Trail Blazers, multiple sources tell Mike Ozanian of CNBC (Twitter link). The NHL team is being valued at $2 billion in the deal, according to Ozanian, while Dundon is buying the Blazers for more than $4 billion.
Donovan Clingan missed Friday’s game at Detroit with a contusion on his lower left leg and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest in Memphis, Highkin tweets. First-round pick Yang Hansen was recalled from the G League in case Clingan is unavailable.
Deni Avdija‘s 35-point performance on Friday made him the highest-scoring Israeli player in NBA history, per Ethan Rubinson and Toi Staff of The Times of Israel. Avdija has 4,648 career points, six more than Omri Casspi.

Northwest Notes: McDaniels, Bailey, Valanciunas, Blazers

November 14th, 2025 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels has been a perennial All-Defensive candidate in recent years, but didn’t command significant attention from opposing defenses. Entering this season, McDaniels had never averaged more than 12.2 points per game in a season or had a usage rate higher than 16.3%.

Early in his sixth NBA season, however, the 25-year-old is showing signs of developing into a legitimate two-way threat, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Through 11 games, McDaniels is averaging 18.4 points per game on a scorching hot .550/.538/.844 shooting line, with a 21.3% usage rate. While those shooting percentages probably aren’t sustainable, McDaniels has looked more comfortable handling the ball, getting to the rim, and creating shots for both himself and teammates, according to Krawczynski.

“We’re going to keep giving him the ball, putting the ball in his hands,” teammate Anthony Edwards said. “He can play with the ball in his hands; he’s just got to make the right play. If he makes the right play, we can be 10 times better, you know? Because he’s a great scorer. We just need him to be another facilitator for us.”

McDaniels’ talents as a perimeter defender have made him a valuable role player and quality starter despite a lack of offensive production, but if he continues to play like he has on the other end of the court, he could be on his way to establishing himself as a star in his role.

“He’s one of the best two-way players in the league,” Julius Randle said, per Krawczynski. “We’ve got to be consistent in that and keep feeding him confidence, trusting him.”

We have more from around the Northwest:

Ace Bailey‘s stats so far this season (8.7 PPG on .415/.324/.824 shooting) have been modest, but the Jazz rookie has scored double-digit points in four consecutive games and is earning praise for his team-first approach, says Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. “He’s highly intentional. He, even at 19, fits in with us. He wants to do the right thing always,” veteran big man Kevin Love said. “Ten games in, once he gets to 20, he’s gonna make another step — once he gets to 40, and once he gets a full season.”
The offseason addition of veteran center Jonas Valanciunas has allowed the Nuggets to slightly reduce Nikola Jokic‘s workload (he’s averaging 33.9 MPG after playing 36.7 last season) and to be more competitive when the three-time MVP isn’t on the floor (the team has a -4.0 net rating when Jokic sits, compared to -9.3 last season). Mark Medina of Essentially Sports spoke to Valanciunas about his experience in Denver so far and to head coach David Adelman about what the 33-year-old has brought to the team. “Attitude-wise, culture-wise, statistically, everything has been positive,” Adelman said of Valanciunas. “He brings such a good energy every day with the team. I feel like there is a part of him that is just really enjoying being on a successful team. He can be an impact guy on that team and play really important games.”
A spokesperson for Paul Allen‘s estate denied a report claiming that the Allens would be retaining a 20% stake in the Trail Blazers once the sale of the team to Tom Dundon is complete, per Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (Substack link). That spokesperson stated that the Blazers will be owned entirely by Dundon’s group once the sale closes, with the Allen estate no longer holding any shares.

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Caruso, Jazz, Nuggets, Johnson

October 23rd, 2025 at 5:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The sale of the Trail Blazers to Tom Dundon will take place in multiple stages over the next few years, sources with knowledge of the situation tell Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports.

After Dundon officially signed a purchase agreement last month, the expectation is that the sale will close in March and he’ll become the team’s majority owner at that time. According to Schiffer, a second transaction will occur at a later date, with Dundon buying the remaining shares in the team from the Allen estate at that time.

A source who spoke to Front Office Sports compared the deal to the Celtics’ sale, in which William Chisholm took over a controlling interest in the franchise earlier this year but isn’t expected to buy the remaining stake until 2028. This structure had been anticipated for the Blazers’ sale, with reporting on the initial tentative agreement suggesting that the $4.25 billion valuation of the franchise was a “blended” figure based on two separate projected payments.

Dundon and Sheel Tyle, who will be a minority stakeholder in the new ownership group, attended the team’s regular season opener in Portland on Wednesday, notes Jason Quick of The Athletic. The schedule began with a loss to the division-rival Timberwolves, though the team suffered a greater loss on Thursday, when head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested and placed on leave after being accused of helping to rig illegal poker games backed by the mafia.

We have more from around the Northwest:

Thunder guard Alex Caruso entered the NBA’s concussion protocol after Tuesday’s win over Houston and will have to go through the return-to-participation protocol and show he’s symptom-free before he’s cleared to return, per the team (Twitter link via Rylan Stiles of SI.com). Caruso will be inactive for Thursday’s NBA Finals rematch in Indiana.
Coming into the season, no team was projected to have a lower win total than the Jazz, so it came as a surprise when they ran out to a 37-point lead in a blowout win over the Clippers in Wednesday’s season opener. Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune shares his takeaways from a memorable start to the season, noting that 2024 first-round pick Cody Williams is out of the rotation but Utah still showed how its youth can be an asset rather than a liability. “We need to reframe that in our brains,” head coach Will Hardy said after his team beat the much older Clippers. “If we’re a little short on experience, we can still be high on energy.”
In an interesting feature story for The Denver Post, Bennett Durando details how the connection between executive VP of player personnel Jon Wallace and star guard Jamal Murray is emblematic of the reinvigorated Nuggets, who feel “more like a team,” in the words of Aaron Gordon, following the organizational upheaval which saw Denver part with its head coach and GM with just three games remaining in the 2024/25 regular season. Wallace, whom Durando describes as the Nuggets’ new co-general manager alongside executive VP of basketball operations Ben Tenzer, has long had a close relationship with Murray and challenged him to be a more consistent leader this summer. “It’s like, ‘All right, how do you turn up the mental level? What’s the small percentage that makes you a little bit better, that helps you kind of reinvent yourself or unlock another level of your attack?’” Wallace told The Post. “… That was the whole thing behind this summer. ‘I want you to be vocal, because when you’re vocal, you’re engaged, and when you’re engaged, your teammates look to you, and they revere you, and they respect you.’“
Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson learned resilience from his father and by extension his late grandmother. It’s a quality he believes will help him as he works to get comfortable both on and off the court in Denver, Quick writes for The Athletic. Johnson’s new teammates and head coach have nothing but good things to say about him, and are confident the 29-year-old will eventually find his groove in the team’s read-and-react offense. “There is a fine balance between him just fitting in, which he is trying to do right now, and then him also just being himself, and knowing that the guys will be OK with that,” said coach David Adelman. “You know, it’s that way with Aaron and Jamal. They’ll play our way — cut, move and screen — but they will also get into their bag and go one-on-one, and that’s OK because they’re really talented players. I think Cam will get there once he has more experience with these guys.”

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

RAJ Sports Drops Lawsuit Involving Trail Blazers Sale

October 13th, 2025 at 7:56pm CST by Rory Maher

RAJ Sports, a company run by the Bhatal family, has dropped its lawsuit against the Cherng family, one of the minority investors in Tom Dundon‘s ownership group that has signed a purchase agreement to buy the Trail Blazers, writes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Dundon and his group reportedly beat out a bid from RAJ Sports, which controls the Portland Thorns in the NWSL and the Portland Fire, the WNBA expansion team that will make its debut next season.

According to Vorkunov, Dundon helped facilitate a resolution between the Bhatals and the Cherngs.

“We are pleased to have reached a resolution out of court which we believe recognizes our position while also preserving the future of basketball in Portland,” RAJ said in a statement (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report). “We look forward to working closely with the Blazers as the Fire join them at Moda Center next Spring.”

RAJ Sports claimed in its lawsuit that the Cherng family — which owns Panda Express — breached an exclusivity agreement and asked a judge to stop them from buying a stake in the Blazers. The lawsuit, which has been withdrawn “without prejudice,” was aimed only at the Cherngs, not the Trail Blazers or the Dundon group.

Now that the lawsuit has been dropped, the impending sale of the Blazers should proceed as normal, Vorkunov notes.

Details On Blazers Sale Lawsuit

September 26th, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

Reporting earlier this week indicated that RAJ Sports, which had made an unsuccessful bid to buy the Blazers, had filed a lawsuit against the Cherng family after they joined Tom Dundon‘s new ownership group, citing a breach in an exclusivity agreement.

The lawsuit centers on the relationship between the Cherng family, founders of the Panda Express restaurant chain, and the Bhathal family, which owns RAJ Sports and holds stakes in the Portland Thorns and the newly established WNBA team, the Portland Fire.

According to new details in the lawsuit, reported by Sean Highkin for the Rose Garden Report (subscriber link), the Bhathals allege that the Cherngs – described in the complaint as “longstanding Bhathal family friends” – entered into a “confidentiality and exclusivity agreement” with them once the Bhathals began preparing to make a bid on the Blazers, and were eager to be a part of the Bhathals’ potential ownership group.

The language of the agreement contained the following clause:

“You agree that, for a period of (1) year from the Effective Date, you shall not, directly or indirectly, without [RAJ Sports’] prior written consent: (a) pursue or enter into any agreement, arrangement, understanding, acquisition, investment transaction, merger, or other combination transaction with or involving [the Trail Blazers franchise], any portion of the [the Trail Blazers franchise’s] assets, or any direct or indirect equity interests in the [Trail Blazers franchise], (b) contact, solicit, or attempt to contact or solicit a Transaction with existing or future holders of equity interests in the Teams without [RAJ Sports’] consent, or (c) otherwise circumvent, bypass, interfere with, compete with, or attempt to circumvent, bypass, interfere with or compete with [RAJ Sports] . . . in connection with the Transaction or any similar or related transaction involving the [Trail Blazers franchise], any portion of the [Trail Blazers franchise’s] assets, or any direct or indirect equity interests in the [Trail Blazers franchise].”

Even after it was announced in mid-August that the Allen estate had entered into a tentative agreement with the Dundons, the Bhathal group continued to build its case for winning the bid, believing it could still make a superior offer.

“Those efforts included working feverishly to finalize equity commitments with [RAJ Sports]’s co-investors, including [the Cherng family],” the lawsuit states.

The claim states that in late August, despite previous communication between the lawyers of the Cherngs and Bhathals that everything was proceeding accordingly, the Cherngs’ lawyers reported that they would be “ceasing discussions with your client regarding the transaction.” The suit also claims that Alex Bhathal called Andrew Cherng to directly ask him if he was joining the Dundon ownership group, which Cherng denied.

Weeks later, on September 12, the formal sale of the team to the Dundon group was complete, and the Cherng Family was listed as an investor.

Highkin notes that the lawsuit is aimed only at the Cherng Family, not the Blazers themselves, nor the Dundon group. RAJ Sports has requested a temporary restraining order that would prevent the Cherngs from moving forward as investors in the team, a request that will be heard by a judge in a few weeks.

The next step is a hearing on a temporary injunction against the Cherngs formalizing their investment with the Dundon group. If either were to be granted, the Dundons would either have to wait out the results of the trial process – which Highkin writes could take the entire year – or find a new investor to replace the Cherng family.

If neither is granted, the Cherngs can move forward with their investment, though with litigation underway, it would mark a risk for the Cherngs, who could be forced to pay damages if the judge rules in favor of the Bhathals. Highkin writes that it appears unlikely that, in such a scenario, a judge could undo the finalized sale outright.

Tom Dundon Signs Agreement To Buy Trail Blazers

September 12th, 2025 at 1:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Nearly a month after reaching a tentative deal to buy the Trail Blazers, prospective owner Tom Dundon has formally signed a purchase agreement, according to reports from Bill Oram of The Oregonian and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico.

Oram adds that the sale, which still requires NBA approval, is expected to formally close before the end of the 2025/26 season. A prior report indicated that a target date of March 31 had been set.

Blue Owl Capital co-president Marc Zahr and co-CEO of Collective Global Sheel Tyle are among the other investors who are part of Dundon’s group, which intends to keep the team in Portland. A statement on Friday indicated that the Cherng Family Trust – the family trust of Panda Express co-founders Andrew Cherng and Peggy Tsiang Cherng – has signed on as an investor as well.

As Sportico reported in August, Dundon’s group is expected to submit two separate payments as part of its purchase — one when the sale closes and one at a later date. The “blended” valuation of the franchise via those two payments will reportedly be about $4.25 billion.

According to Oram, Dundon and his group beat out a bid from RAJ Sports and the Bhathal family, which controls the Portland Thorns in the NWSL and the Portland Fire, the WNBA expansion team that will make its debut next season.

The Trail Blazers announced their plans to sell the franchise back in May. Paul Allen, the longtime Blazers owner who purchased the franchise for $70MM in 1988, passed away on October 15, 2018, resulting in control of the team being transferred to his sister Jody Allen, the trustee and executor of his estate.

The plan following Paul Allen’s death was for ownership of the Blazers to eventually change hands as part of an estate sale, which is the process that’s playing out now. All estate proceeds as a result of the Blazers sale will be directed toward philanthropy, per the late Allen’s wishes.

Northwest Notes: Daigneault, Holmgren, Trail Blazers Sale

August 27th, 2025 at 10:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Champion Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is building a team culture that will help Oklahoma City thrive long-term, Rylan Stiles of Thunder On SI opines.

Daigneault got his start as the head coach of the club’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, in 2014. He served as an assistant coach under Billy Donovan first in 2016, and again during Donovan’s final season with the Thunder, 2019/20. Daigneault was then elevated to the head coaching role the subsequent season.

After the team missed the postseason while strategically tanking from 2020-22, Daigneault helped the young Thunder post a 40-42 record in 2022/23 and make the play-in tournament. Oklahoma City has notched the best record in the Western Conference for each of the past two seasons. Daigneault was named the league’s Coach of the Year with the 57-25 Thunder in 2023/24, and won a title with the 68-14 club this past June.

Stiles observes that Daigneault’s Thunder players can often be heard parroting many of his strategic talking points and suggests that’s a positive indicator of their commitment to his approach.

There’s more out of the Northwest:

Rising Thunder big man Chet Holmgren agreed to a five-year, maximum rookie-scale extension this summer. The deal is projected to be worth around $240MM. Stiles observes that Oklahoma City has everything it needs to help Holmgren reach another level on offense. The 7’1″ center out of Gonzaga has struggled with significant health challenges during his nascent pro career, having missed all of what would have been his rookie season in 2022/23 with a foot ailment and sitting out 50 regular season bouts in 2024/25 due to a pelvic fracture. In the 32 regular season games he did play last year, Holmgren averaged 15.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.2 BPG, 2.0 APG and 0.7 SPG.
A group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has reportedly agreed to purchase controlling ownership of the Trail Blazers for $4.25 billion. Dundon and the Paul Allen estate are hoping to finalize an agreement in September, according to Matthew Kish and Bill Oram of The Oregonian, who take a closer look at the next steps in the process and what to expect from the new owners. It is anticipated that Dundon will be the biggest shareholder involved, but he’ll also be joined by Blue Owl Capital co-president Marc Zahr and Collective Global Management CEO Sheel Tyle. Tyle is based in Portland.
In case you missed it, the Timberwolves are reportedly considering a potential reunion with free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley.

March 31 Target Date Set For Closing Of Blazers’ Sale

August 20th, 2025 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Trail Blazers first announced their plans to sell the franchise in May, they stated that the process was expected to extend into the 2025/26 season, so it came as a bit of a surprise when word broke last Wednesday that a buyer had been found.

However, the sale of the team to a group headed by Tom Dundon isn’t expected to become official in the short term. According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, a target date of March 31, 2026 has been set for the closing of the deal.

As Quick outlines, Dundon and his group of investors have reached an exclusivity agreement with the late Paul Allen‘s estate, which means that the estate is no longer permitted to negotiate with other potential buyers. The two sides are continue to discuss certain terms of the sale, but all major points have been agreed upon and the buyers hope to sign a purchase agreement next month, a source close to Dundon tells Quick.

While a seven-month timeline to complete the sale of the team would be longer than average, it typically takes a few months from the time a tentative agreement is reached for a new ownership group to completely close its sale. For instance, it was reported on March 20 that William Chisholm had struck a deal to buy the Celtics; that deal was approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors last week, with the team confirming the closing of the sale this Tuesday.

The valuation of the Blazers in the sale is estimated to be $4.25 billion, and the plan is to keep the team in Oregon. The future of Moda Center remains up in the air, however. As Quick writes, the team has a lease agreement in place to continue playing at the arena until at least 2030, but commissioner Adam Silver has said a new building will likely be necessary.

“Nothing about the arena is a deal breaker on its own,” Quick’s source said. “It’s lots of little things that add up.”

Regardless of what happens with the arena, Blazers fans should be enthusiastic about how the change in ownership will impact the franchise, that source close to Dundon tells The Athletic.

“He brings a swagger,” the source said of Dundon. “If Tom was the owner last year, he would have been trying to get Luka (Doncic). He would be like, ‘Why should the Lakers have him?'”

Western Notes: Wolves, Hyland, Dundon, Durant, Suns

August 14th, 2025 at 3:58pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Due to their proximity to the second tax apron, the Timberwolves may only carry 14 players on standard contracts to open the 2025/26 season, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. While Minnesota has checked in on several free agent guards, including Cameron Payne, Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet, all signs point to Bones Hyland being the frontrunner for the 14th spot, Krawczynski reports.

Hyland signed a two-way contract with the Wolves last season, appearing in four games. As Krawczynski notes, Hyland was a former first-round pick by president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.

While breaking down the roster, Krawczynski writes that Johnny Juzang — who agreed to a training camp deal with the Wolves — is a long shot to make the cut but that Luka Garza forced his way onto the team with similar odds last year. Young players like Jaylen Clark, Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. are expected to have larger roles this season, Krawczynski adds.

We have more from the Western Conference:

A group led by the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon reached an agreement on Wednesday to buy the Trail Blazers. That group includes Sheel Tyle, co-CEO of Collective Global who is married to Dr. Sejal Hathi, the head of Oregon Health Authority, Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report writes (Substack subscriber link). The group’s local connection through Tyle is one of a few reasons why it stood out among the bidders, per Highkin.
After suggesting in a recent podcast that the Rockets might be reluctant to sign Kevin Durant to a maximum-salary extension, Tim MacMahon said on an NBA Today appearance that there isn’t any urgency to complete a multiyear agreement. MacMahon said the Rockets have other matters to attend to, including an extension for Tari Eason. “Kevin Durant is their best player, he’s not necessarily their priority,” MacMahon said. “That’s not an insult to him, their priority is making sure they have as long of a runway as possible while trying to cash in on this window that they created by getting Kevin Durant.“
Plenty of “ifs” stand in the way of the Suns making the playoffs, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports writes. While they could be a surprise team if things break the right way, Bourguet has them just on the outside looking in of the Western Conference playoff picture for next season, sitting at No. 11 in his conference power rankings. The Suns basically remade their depth after trading away Durant and waiving Bradley Beal, adding the likes of Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams via trades.

Tom Dundon Reaches Tentative Deal To Buy Trail Blazers

August 13th, 2025 at 2:15pm CST by Luke Adams

2:15 pm: In an updated version of their Sportico report, Soshnick and Novy-Williams says the Blazers’ sale will include two separate payments — one at the closing of the sale and one at a later date. The “blended” valuation of the two payments will be roughly $4.25 billion, sources tell Sportico.

11:18 am: The Blazers will be valued at more than $4 billion in the sale, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

11:01 am: A group led by billionaire Tom Dundon, the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, has reached a tentative agreement to buy the Trail Blazers from Paul Allen‘s estate, sources tell Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico.

Blue Owl Capital co-president Marc Zahr and co-CEO of Collective Global Sheel Tyle are among the other investors who are part of Dundon’s group, according to Soshnick and Novy-Williams, who say the buyers intend to keep the team in Portland.

The Trail Blazers announced their plans to sell the franchise back in May. Allen, the longtime Blazers owner who purchased the franchise for $70MM in 1988, passed away on October 15, 2018, resulting in control of the team being transferred to his sister Jody Allen, the trustee and executor of his estate.

The plan following Paul Allen’s death was for ownership of the Blazers to eventually change hands as part of an estate sale, which is the process that’s playing out now. The investment bank Allen & Co. (no relation) and the law firm Hogan Lovells were selected to lead the sale of the team.

As Soshnick and Novy-Williams note, while the valuation of the Blazers in this tentative deal isn’t yet known, a trust generally has a fiduciary duty in an estate sale to maximize the value of its assets and to sell to the highest qualified bidder.

When Sportico last updated its NBA franchise valuations in December 2024, the site estimated the Blazers’ worth to be $3.6 billion. New owners have agreed to buy the Celtics ($6.1 billion valuation) and Lakers ($10 billion valuation) since then.

All estate proceeds as a result of the Blazers sale will be directed toward philanthropy, per the late Allen’s wishes.

In addition to owning the NHL’s Hurricanes, Dundon has invested heavily in pickleball — he’s the majority owner of the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball. Dundon, who is also the chairman and managing partner of the Dallas-based investment firm Dundon Capital Partners, will serve as the Blazers’ new governor if and when the sale is officially approved by the NBA, per Sportico’s report.