FFTactics | Bulls

4891 | 19 hours ago

That’s 100% what happened

BigOlPass

1370 | 19 hours ago

Even if that’s what he wants to do, the other owners have to approve a move. He’s not going to be able to move to Vegas or Seattle which is where the expansion was always headed.

LuckyShirt54 | Grizzlies

978 | 19 hours ago

I hope. I have zero faith in the owners or league office

jabronified

531 | 19 hours ago

Every owner gets a fat check, like $500m each from divvying up the $8bn each rights to Vegas and Seattle, highly doubt they’re just going to give that up for nothing. Unless the gambit is the owners would rather not have an additional team to split revenue with, so they’re okay letting Portland move (to a location that makes media deals more valuable too). But then again, I dont think they’ll let dundon make a free instant 50-100% gain on team value just by relocating.

Montigue | POR

134 | 18 hours ago

Huh.. seems pretty close to the number Dundun needs to make renovations to the Moda Center

lifeline29 | Nuggets

19 | 19 hours ago

$8B ÷ 30 teams = $266M

Edit: I’m a dumbass. It’s 2 expansion teams so twice as much as the $266 i wrote. Thank you u/BoredofBored

unitythrufaith | Celtics

122 | 18 hours ago

8 billion from each new team, so roughly 500 million

GoldenStateCapital | Heat

75 | 18 hours ago

Yeah but two franchises so double that

BoredofBored | Bulls

15 | 18 hours ago

2 expansion teams = $14-16B

Green_Space729

12 | 18 hours ago

Oh never mind than

CKRatKing | Suns

17 | 18 hours ago

And then you gotta pay taxes on it…why even bother?

Montigue | POR

6 | 18 hours ago

There are two expansion teams..

OldResponsibility531

7 | 18 hours ago

8 bil/team = 16… ¹⁶⁄₃₀=0.53

[deleted]

9 | 19 hours ago

[deleted]

iTsPriMeTiiMe | Lakers

7 | 19 hours ago

But you’re forgetting the boost in revenue from a new expansion team that would offset that offset

Goosedukee | Nets

8 | 18 hours ago

Plus even if Dundom zeroes in on a non-LV/SEA city, he’d still have to pay a hefty relocation fee, which he’s probably unwilling to do.

BelowTheBells

212 | 19 hours ago

You can have zero faith all you want, it’s really just very basic logic:

- Owners would not receive any money if Portland were to move to Seattle or Vegas.

- Owners would receive money from an expansion team in Seattle or Vegas.

Which one do you think they’ll be in favor of…?

PM_ME_CORGI_GIFS | NBA

51 | 19 hours ago

You’re not wrong but it’s really a math problem. Is the check they get from an expansion team for $300MM worth more or less than their lost share of future revenues.

AbjectAffect91 | Knicks

95 | 19 hours ago

Seattle will probably be PACKED. Those fans have waited long enough. Vegas, not so sure. Vegas itself is losing visitors.

AnalBaguette | PHI

76 | 19 hours ago

Based on the NFL, it’s going to be half empty or a home game for every visiting team

Weary_Restauranter | Spurs

102 | 19 hours ago

The raiders are one of the most expensive fan experiences in the NFL. It’s like a grand for a family to go to a game.

The golden knights were at like 105% of seating capacity in attendance last year selling standing room only tickets.

The raiders are not and have never been a well run franchise.

Fivedollaman | Vancouver Grizzlies

65 | 19 hours ago

The raiders have also been a bottom 3 team in the league and the golden knights have made the playoffs ⁸⁄₉ seasons and won a stanley cup

elbow8075

37 | 19 hours ago

It’s over $100 just to tour the stadium. No game, no event, just to look around inside.

Weary_Restauranter | Spurs

56 | 19 hours ago

Of all of the entertainment options in Las Vegas lol

Fivedollaman | Vancouver Grizzlies

18 | 19 hours ago

My dad has seasons tickets and hes from Canada. The prices are insane. A “silver and black margarita” is over $20 which is like 30 dollars canadian just for an ounce of alchohol lol

ankylosaurus_tail | Trail Blazers

16 | 18 hours ago

Las Vegas Aces have strong attendance–they consistently sell out their 12k seat arena.

Unlikely-Tone-6269

28 | 19 hours ago

UNLV has a very strong and historic basketball culture, so I think basketball would do well. Im still convinced baseball and the A’s are in for a very very rude awakening. Very few opponent fans are planning a mid week series trip to Vegas and theres 81 games that need to be sold with the season also coinciding with the worst time of year to be in Vegas. We could be looking at Oakland and Tampa attendance levels

AbjectAffect91 | Knicks

7 | 19 hours ago

TIL A’s are moving to Vegas. That weather is baaaad for Baseball.

JigsawMind

16 | 18 hours ago

They are building it “fully enclosed” and climate controlled. The idea of a fully outdoor stadium in Vegas is extremely funny though.

TheMadChatta | Cavaliers

7 | 18 hours ago

The AAA team plays outdoors but, I believe, almost exclusively night games.

Katesburneracct

55 | 19 hours ago

They really don’t want a do-over of the okc/supersonics problem. Silver has said multiple times that he doesn’t want teams relocating. It’s partially why they are doing the expansion. Relocation is a pretty rare thing

jrainiersea | Supersonics

32 | 18 hours ago

Yeah Dundon would have to prove that the situation in Portland is completely untenable for the league to be OK with them moving, and so far it seems like Portland is very willing to play ball and all the strife is on the ownership end

joeychestnutsrectum | Trail Blazers

25 | 17 hours ago

Yeah but the city has put in crazy stipulations like a lease agreement and consequences if Dundon doesn’t legally abide by the contract. I don’t know about you but I don’t think consequences are fair for billionaires.

AccomplishedBake8351

19 | 19 hours ago

They might move but unless another city is going to pony up 6-7 billion I don’t see why owners would vote against their financial interests

SquirrelWarSurvivor | Bulls

20 | 19 hours ago

This isn’t having faith in the league owners to do the right thing. It’s having faith in them to act in their own selfish financial best interests. Very different behavior to have faith in them for.

ihatemcconaughey | Cavaliers

32 | 19 hours ago

They won’t block it. They all want the same thing.

hyperadhd | Nuggets

102 | 19 hours ago

Yes they will, they want the new franchise money that comes from those specific cities

pixeloffortune

29 | 19 hours ago

They’re going to block a move to Vegas or Seattle for those reasons, but I wouldn’t be so sure about another location. If Dundan finds a 1bn arena subsidy some place else the Blazers are in danger.

PseudoTsugaDougie

40 | 19 hours ago

What logical municipality exists for such an arena? Mavs and Rockets aren’t going to sign off on a team in Austin. Tennessee can’t support 2 franchises and Grizzlies would block a Nashville team (if they don’t entertain a move to Nashville themselves), NC cannot support 2 teams, nor would Charlotte sign off on a team in Raleigh. I don’t see KC as an option, and the other city regularly included in discussions of adding a Big 4 franchise, SLC, already has the Jazz. There are no viable options for Tommy Two Cents to move the team. He should have never been allowed to get involved in the NBA. The Allen estate did the City of Portland, and their insanely loyal fanbase extremely dirty in selling to this fuckwad, as did Salamander Silver in approving the sale. Paul Allen, who treated the franchise as a dear child, took regular losses on his investment (which could obviously tolerate with his wealth). He must be rolling in his grave. Fuck the carpet-bagging weasel, Tom Dundon, fuck Jody Allen, and fuck Adam Silver.

Cashneto | Knicks

40 | 19 hours ago

I believe the Paul Allen’s will said the team had to be sold to the highest bidder with the proceeds going to charity. Nothing Jody Allen could have done. The other owners could have vetoed it, but no way to know that he was going to try the immediately move the team.

Unlikely-Tone-6269

25 | 19 hours ago

Mavs and Rockets? Austin is Spurs territory lol, those cities are neighbors. That’s the team blocking Austin

lousy_at_handles | Thunder

19 | 19 hours ago

KC also just lost the Chiefs because they wouldn’t pony up the taxpayer money for their new stadium. So I doubt he’d get the type of deal he’s looking for there.

JigsawMind

14 | 18 hours ago

Kansas City lost the Chiefs to the other Kansas City. Unfortunately, I can see Kansas state ponying up the money for a basketball team.

blueindsm | Timberwolves

12 | 18 hours ago

“Lost”

ajswdf | Bulls

6 | 18 hours ago

That’s not entirely accurate.

For one, KC didn’t lose the Chiefs, they literally moved to an adjacent city. It would be like saying that Boston “lost” the Patriots because they’re not in Boston anymore.

But secondly Jackson County specifically voted down a plan that included both the Chiefs and Royals for a multitude of reasons. KC might not be willing to pony up the money to build a new arena or renovate the Sprint Center, but that vote doesn’t close the door on every potential sports arena/stadium.

boyWHOcriedFSD

53 | 19 hours ago

Ya but if Portland moves to Seattle or Vegas it’s not an expansion, so there is no expansion fee paid to the other owners.

Portland will not be going to Seattle or Vegas. No chance.

redvelvetcake42 | Slovenia

22 | 19 hours ago

Eh, I don’t know. Seattle wouldn’t be happy getting a cheap ass bastard and the Blazers at that. Vegas would say fuck off we want a fresh team. They can all approve it but the cities can reject taking the Blazers.

car1999pet | Supersonics

41 | 19 hours ago

I’d be fucking furious, not only would we have a shit owner we’d be stealing our main rivals team. I want Portland to hate us cause we keep kicking their ass not cause we stole their team.

BillowingPillows | Supersonics

14 | 18 hours ago

We do not want the Blazers.

akelkar | Warriors

14 | 19 hours ago

??? Seattle still rides hard for the Sonics

redvelvetcake42 | Slovenia

19 | 19 hours ago

Yes but there’s a big difference between a new team getting great picks and fresh players to build from the bottom up and getting the new cheapest fuck in the league with a depressed roster who pays bottom dollar for everything.

chewytime

14 | 19 hours ago

Yeah, owners wont approve of a move to LV or Seattle, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t allow Dundon to move the Blazers to another city that’s desperate enough to deal with the jackass. The other owners wont block a relocation b/c they dont want to set a precedent that might prevent one of them from threatening their city in the future with a potential move.

Only hope is that no other city will be desperate enough to acquiesce to Dundon’s stadium demands, which I’m not confident about. There’s always some politician wanting to make a splash and take credit for bringing a pro sports team to town. Can only hope they dont take the Blazers history with them for the small chance that Portland gets another team in the far future.

BigOlPass

10 | 19 hours ago

I don’t think that’s true. A lot of owners want the threat of being able to move but there are definitely influential owners that I think would be against it like Balmer.

Plus there is no chance they allow a move to Seattle or Vegas. So then where else would they go?

DrSwaggenheimer | Timberwolves

27 | 19 hours ago

I hope they stop it for Portlands sake. He’s not interested in owning a team he’s interested in turning a profit.

Knicksin7bby | Knicks

15 | 19 hours ago

Relocating hasn’t gone well for NFL teams. The Rams took years of being a great team to build a fanbase I doubt Portland is on that path the chargers struggle to fill up their stadium with home fans. The nets are the nba equivalent of that, if they were smarter and established themselves in secaucus ( easy public transportation for the majority of Nj) or jersey city in an urban stadium they might e had the chance to build their own identity instead they gambled big and lost. If the trailblazers move into the spurs shadow they will regret it. Kentucky might be the only state that is a big untapped market for an nba team but I doubt the nba wants completely abandon the northwest so that’s out until expansion

DemarcusLovin | 76ers

33 | 18 hours ago

Relocating hasn’t gone well for NFL teams.

From a business perspective, yes it absolutely has. The Rams created billions of dollars in extra value by moving from STL to LA, and the NFL now has a solidified west coast HQ. Their de facto league operations offices are now in LA.

You could debate on the Chargers lack of a LA fanbase after moving from San Diego, but even still, even that franchise is still incredibly more valuable being in LA.

These are billionaires and the NFL is always (only) focused on growing the NFL, which those relocations did their part in helping.

captain_ahabb | Lakers

11 | 18 hours ago

The Rams are doing just fine business-wise but I think you could still question if they have a fanbase lol.

LukeBron | MIA

125 | 19 hours ago

No, you are ridiculous, the notoriously cheap billionaire is absolutely engaged in good faith negotiations with the city of Portland where he pays $1.50 (and also gives the mayor a McChicken Sandwich) and the cities taxpayers give him $3bn for the new 150,000 capacity indoor arena. The proposals are absolutely not a setup for the highly ethical billionaire to tell the NBA “well, we tried!”

butterflyhole | Trail Blazers

110 | 19 hours ago

It’s becoming even more clear since the meeting last week when the Blazers president said staying here is gonna require more than just the arena deal.

HoldEm__FoldEm

43 | 19 hours ago

It’s not that easy to just move the team if he’s not getting a Portland deal he wants.

The whole league has to approve a move. And to where? Good luck with that.

SovereignAnt

33 | 19 hours ago

Doesn’t mean they aren’t clearly trying to move the team lol. The person u replied to isn’t saying “the Blazers are 100% moving”, just that its obvious thats what Dundon wants.

wingshayz | DEN

21 | 15 hours ago

they voted 28-2 in favour of moving the sonics

Uppun | Trail Blazers

19 | 15 hours ago

To Oklahoma City of all places too! The 42nd largest metro in the United States. Portland is still a small market by sports standards but there are only a couple bigger in the US that don’t already have a team (not including vegas and seattle) but there are many more bigger than OKC.

schooli00 | TOR

6 | 13 hours ago

And OKC won a chip. Clearly moving the team makes it more competitive. /S

mw19078 | Lakers

8 | 19 hours ago

probably but this is also exactly how he runs the nhl team he got too. like this was inevitable and everyone who knew anything about how he ran that team should have seen the rest of this shit coming

Sirderksalot | Mavericks

2265 | 19 hours ago

If this is true, and he succeeds, the NBA’s streak of choosing new owners seemingly hellbent on destroying committed fanbases will continue in spectacular fashion.

RedBuchan | Cavaliers

1025 | 19 hours ago

I don’t know how anyone in the PNW can watch the NBA if they lose the Grizzlies, Supersonics, and Trailblazers in the span of 30 years.

Intelligence_Gap | Supersonics

572 | 19 hours ago

It would be devastating to see Portland lose the blazers just as we’re about to get the Sonics back

Miyaor | Supersonics

161 | 18 hours ago

Its why I will never follow the nba in any serious capacity. I tune in from time to time, but I truly hate the owners and will never become a fan of any team again.

blazerboy3000

32 | 17 hours ago

I’m going full boycott if they let him get away with this bullshit.

pretzeldoggo | Kings

19 | 16 hours ago

I’m full boycott on the Kings right now, so I’m right there with you brotha

CreatiScope | Celtics

9 | 16 hours ago

Yeah, I’m getting pretty tired of being treated like shit as a fan in general. If the Blazers get moved, that’s my cue to stop watching.

ncos | Trail Blazers

92 | 17 hours ago

We don’t have NFL, MLB, or NHL either. It would be a catastrophic loss for the city.

Intelligence_Gap | Supersonics

17 | 17 hours ago

At least you have a solid MLS team rn, they’re worth supporting if you don’t already

ncos | Trail Blazers

15 | 17 hours ago

I do support them, the Fire, and Thorns… But it’s no NFL.

Leroy--Brown

34 | 18 hours ago

Agreed, I miss you guys too. And I want our little NW rivalry to come back

basedbasketballguy | Bulls

28 | 19 hours ago

He wouldn’t…he wouldn’t move them to Seattle would he?

llama_titan | Supersonics

143 | 19 hours ago

This seems like pretty much the only way to have Seattle upset about the Sonics coming back

BBQ_HaX0r

36 | 18 hours ago

I don’t even want to see that. Seattle genuinely might protest that. It’d be the weirdest situation ever despite the Portland/Seattle rivalry.

gordongroans

11 | 18 hours ago

It’s big brother looking out for little brother, with the I’ve been there experience.

bluedeer10 | Raptors

33 | 19 hours ago

The NBA is going to back to Seattle via expansion only because the expansion fee is going to be waaaaaaay more money than a relocation fee.

PodzFan

5 | 18 hours ago

Unless he’s paying for an arena himself there’s nothing for him in Seattle

yeender | Trail Blazers

83 | 19 hours ago

If the Blazers leave Portland I will never watch an nba game again as long as I live.

mandarinsage | Trail Blazers

23 | 18 hours ago

I’m done if the NBA is done. Lots of sports to watch out there.

therealaggies

18 | 18 hours ago

Its also just bad business. Who trades Vancouver and Seattle for OKC and Memphis? What?

nekoken04 | Supersonics

13 | 18 hours ago

I love NBA basketball but yeah, that might be the final straw.

NBA is getting to be nearly as dirty as FIFA.

Viron_22 | Supersonics

14 | 17 hours ago

Genuinely, if the NHL got their act together and got more games on TVs I wouldn’t even bother with the NBA. Basketball is my favorite sport, to watch and to play, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop hating the league.

gigglios

89 | 19 hours ago

Or its just a reminder that all billionaires are like this lmao

Admirable_Limit9551 | Cavaliers

43 | 19 hours ago

Not a single good one. All of them immoral and evil. We need to stop being shocked by it

gigglios

11 | 19 hours ago

100%. Fanbases gettong shocked is hilarious.

bigbobo33 | Bucks

64 | 19 hours ago

Eh by all accounts the Minnesota owners are good with their fan base and while Ishbia fucked the team’s roster up by being too impulsive, by all accounts he’s been good to the fan base and city too.

It’s really just Dundon and the Adelsons who have sucked shit.

Purple-Drive-486

30 | 17 hours ago

while Ishbia fucked the team’s roster up by being too impulsive, by all accounts he’s been good to the fan base and city too

I can’t believe how gullible you are. Ishbia isn’t being good to local fans, he’s trying to starve out the minority owners to force them to sell to him. Then he will raise prices on everything. It’s a pure vulture capitalism play

Mosh00Rider | Suns

17 | 13 hours ago

He will raise prices on the free Suns games and 2 dollar hotdogs?

Prof-Ponderosa | Mavericks

11 | 19 hours ago

NBA needs a villain franchise to allow public stadium subsidies to continue.

“Look what happened to Seattle/portland”

twisted-logic | Magic

11 | 19 hours ago

Big, if true.

RememberTheShowDoug | Rockets

857 | 19 hours ago

Fuck Dundon. May the city of Portland somehow keep their team.

Go Oilers.

NihilismMattersToo | Spurs

98 | 19 hours ago

Edmonton new expansion team?

xXEliteEater500Xx

18 | 19 hours ago

Players are going to love the giant baseball bat!

RapsareChamps_Suckit | Clippers

34 | 19 hours ago

McDavid will win a Stanley Cup in Portland

bit_pusher | Spurs

15 | 19 hours ago

Go flames!

kingjakerulezz | Raptors

15 | 19 hours ago

Go Leafs

theomegachrist | Knicks

620 | 19 hours ago

The stuff he said later on in this podcast is actually what worries me the most. That he had to sell part of his stake in his hockey team and he really didn’t have the money to buy the blazers so they’re running it lean. Best case scenario if you’re a Blazers fan is that they stay and they are a team that will never go into the tax while their owner is alive

token_reddit | Clippers

240 | 19 hours ago

Dundon will sell. Once the expansion fees roll in, that inflated the teams value and they get the deal done for Moda Center. Seattle was a total bait and switch because the Starbucks owner was a cheap piece of crap.

BunkHammer | Trail Blazers

146 | 19 hours ago

Honestly could see this happening. He saw an opportunity to get in and quickly make money.

Then sell it in a few years time to make another billion.

BlackLeader70 | Pistons

56 | 19 hours ago

Can’t have shit in ~~Detroit~~ Portland.

I was so excited to see Dame back and building what could be a decent squad. I was hopping to go to more games this season in Portland but i guess I’ll just go to more Fire games instead.

Feeling_Anteater_389 | Hornets

31 | 19 hours ago

The private equity special

1337hacker

10 | 18 hours ago

Why sell all of it or any at all if you can just take loans out on the new valuation and likely get another team. Dundon downsized once on the hockey team, I doubt he did it to turn around and flipan asset that is appreciating this fast

Raven-19x | Spurs

51 | 19 hours ago

Even if Dundon succeeds in moving the team elsewhere he’ll always have cheap tendencies. Being a miser doesn’t just go away.

LouieM13 | NYK

22 | 19 hours ago

He did that? He gotta be like top 5 poorest NBA owners

MarekRules | 76ers

15 | 18 hours ago

Yikes. I live in Seattle now and love going down to portland for a game if i can catch the sixers. The city loves the blazers and im dying for the sonics to come back to get the rivalry going again. What a fucking bum

DannyDOH | Raptors

16 | 18 hours ago

100%. Anyone spending 5 mins digging into this would come away shocked that the NBA approved this ownership group.

They emptied their clip just to get the team….they have no capital to invest in it. So they are banking on a municipal/state government to carry that freight.

CrossoverCadence

442 | 19 hours ago

Also, owners are getting a ~500M payout check with expansion fees. So he basically bought the team with a mail in rebate coming soon

[deleted]

274 | 19 hours ago

[deleted]

TheGranitePark

144 | 19 hours ago

Balmer is on the opposite extreem of the spectrum. He will use his billionaire evil power to do every dodgy and sketchy thing to get the team to win. I mean I’m not endorsing him but if I had to choose..

Riotroom | Bulls

33 | 19 hours ago

You could say he has aspirations to win a title

bookjun | Thunder

25 | 19 hours ago

i mean if i was Clippers fan i would love Balmer too, the owner who do whatever it take to win

DrPuzzle

9 | 18 hours ago

Yeah I mean listen we don’t have to like the shady shit he’ll do to win because he is doing it and it’s wrong 😅 but I mean… The alternative is right here. Give me Balmer every day of a week if I’m a fan because he’s proven that he’s willing to spend money! And a lot of it! And in various ways 😂😂

PlayOnPlayer | Trail Blazers

243 | 19 hours ago

Letting this happen twice in the PNW would just be so fucking vile dude. Really just comes off as a corrupt as hell league. Maybe I’m just one voice in whole sea, but you take the Blazers and I bail fully on the sport, not just the dickhead who turns us into the Kansas City Riblets or whatever.

Beneficial__Meat | Vancouver Grizzlies

116 | 19 hours ago

Wouldn’t it be the third time lol

Bricks_For_Hands | Trail Blazers

44 | 18 hours ago

Random thought: Do canadiens call Vancouver the pacific southwest?

big_blue_lake_crew

42 | 18 hours ago

Just “west coast” similar to how people do SoCal.

Beneficial__Meat | Vancouver Grizzlies

18 | 18 hours ago

Maybe if you live in Nunavut lol

NonNewtonianResponse | Spurs

15 | 17 hours ago

No, it’s still the northwest of the continent so that’s close enough. Also, there’s a (small) minority of folks who feel as much or more kinship to “Cascadia” than to the rest of Canada so they like to use the same term to link them together

shmargus | Trail Blazers

12 | 16 hours ago

I feel a hell of a lot more kinship to Vancouver than I do even to Sacramento.

DisMeDog

224 | 19 hours ago

What do expect from someone who made his fortune through subprime loans to poor desperate people. No better than the dogshit you scrape off the sidewalk.

icecream_for_brunch | Trail Blazers

57 | 18 hours ago

Worse than that

Icy_Internet5045

23 | 15 hours ago

Dog shit don’t hurt nobody

LeaderBrandonBurner | Celtics

221 | 19 hours ago

If Silver had any balls he would force a sale of the team, unfortunately don’t think it would ever happen. I feel devastated for Portland fans

Dallas2houston120

147 | 19 hours ago

Or he can just block them from moving out of Portland

Simple_Dragonfruit48 | Supersonics

66 | 19 hours ago

All the owners would probably be upset. They hired him to protect their autonomy not limit it.

peachesgp | Celtics

36 | 19 hours ago

They have him to protect their investment. It’s about money, not autonomy. If they were at all worried about autonomy, we wouldn’t have the aprons in the new CBA.

Simple_Dragonfruit48 | Supersonics

8 | 19 hours ago

Obviously it’s about money more than anything but that goes hand and hand with autonomy.

There’s an apron because the owners wanted it that way and they also want a commissioner that’s going to let them do the things that they want to do.

DCStoolie

8 | 19 hours ago

Goddell is an asshole but he makes no qualms about who he is and what he does. He is there to grow football, but more so protect the shield.

Silver just likes people liking him too much to ever do that but Stern would

bfbbturambar | Spurs

18 | 19 hours ago

Yeah, I remember when Stern stood up to the Sonics ownership to keep Seattle’s team for the growth of the sport.

BigOlPass

50 | 19 hours ago

He literally does not have the power to do that

LeaderBrandonBurner | Celtics

14 | 19 hours ago

Yeah I get he might not be able to force the sale of the team but there has to be something he can do to save the franchise. The optics of a team being bought and forced out of their city of 50+ years is not good

BehavioralSink | Trail Blazers

9 | 19 hours ago

What would truly be hilarious is if any potential destination city noted how much of a prick Dundon is when it comes to negotiating business deals and every city says “fuck that, we’d rather drink turpentine and piss on a brush fire.”

Dallas2houston120

9 | 19 hours ago

I wish but some GOP governor is probably licking his chops at being able to recruit an NBA team to his state while making his constituents pay for the stadium.

BantuLisp | Wizards

93 | 19 hours ago

Do you realize that the commissioner doesn’t actually have the power to force a sale of a team without super majority approval from the governors or do you just talk out of your ass

MyTeamsSuck99 | Nets

66 | 19 hours ago

It’s not that people on Reddit are morons it’s the confidence at which they say this shit

dasfee | 76ers

30 | 19 hours ago

People on Reddit may sound like they make sense until it’s about a topic you actually know about. And then you realize people just be saying whatever comes into their heads.

alexmojo2

13 | 19 hours ago

It’s really not much different from real life but Redditors are way more annoying about it

Wyden_long | Suns

12 | 19 hours ago

Hey kiss my ass, I’m a huge moron.

CodeBlueLegacy | Spurs

19 | 19 hours ago

Yall act like Silver has any real power. He works for the owners, he doesn’t govern them.

His job is to be the lawyer for the league owners. The other 29 owners would have to be the ones to vote Dundon out or block a move.

beejalton

17 | 19 hours ago

“Silver should fire his boss”

ReturnOfTheHistorian

130 | 19 hours ago

If the Blazers leave Portland, I will never watch the NBA again

SteveQuincyUrkel | Trail Blazers

12 | 16 hours ago

Same

worldisamirror

111 | 19 hours ago

Fuck Tom Dundon

Fuck Clay Bennett and Howard Shultz

PNW hoops fans deserve so, so much more than those clowns.

EDIT: And as of today it’s 6,682 days since the last Sonics game (April 16, 2008).

Bring’em Back
https://youtu.be/VnowNza53HQ

EDIT2: Some people hate KD. I don’t. I think he just loves to hoop. If you had his shot, wouldn’t you? If KD came back to the Sonics after all the nonsense, that would make my heart happy.

jammagethejammage | Bucks

16 | 17 hours ago

Fuck smiley glad-hands with hidden agendas.

Fuck these corruptible, waste of breath billionaires.

markevbs | Celtics

98 | 19 hours ago

Portland has already lost the team. This is all just formality now

Defiant_Classroom_31 | Trail Blazers

56 | 19 hours ago

The lease they’re currently in has over four years left.

markevbs | Celtics

25 | 19 hours ago

Which changes nothing about what I’ve said unfortunately. That’s a laughably short lease

cabbages212 | Hornets

53 | 19 hours ago

Hornets are locked down until 2045 (best thing MJ did as an owner) because of this team moving bs.

Chartate101 | Pistons

24 | 19 hours ago

Oh wow that IS based

Beetle919 | Hornets

7 | 18 hours ago

MJ was a shit talent evaluator but a good owner in all other aspects.

CaseyJonesCokeLocker | Charlotte Bobcats

6 | 17 hours ago

For all his flaws as an owner, if there’s one thing MJ cares about it’s basketball in NC

DreadLockedHaitian | Celtics

6 | 19 hours ago

Damn, that’s actually wild lol

CieraVotedOutHerMom

18 | 19 hours ago

The rent is what - only $3m per year?

Just move and pay all all rent in full

dumdomdam

5 | 19 hours ago

The Nets played in NJ for eight years after committing to move to Brooklyn (2004 to 2012). I’m sure they’re willing to stay in Portland for a few years if it means an additional however many billions on their investment returns instead of buying an expansion team for more money sadly.

TheMoorNextDoor | Nets

6 | 19 hours ago

As a Nets fan even I wasn’t aware that we were gunhoe to move to Brooklyn from 04 I only started hearing about it in 08/09.

LukeBron | MIA

32 | 19 hours ago

Oh come on, Vegas is such a great city with such passionate fans! A city like Seattle or Portland could never match the unrivaled addiction the people of Las Vegas have for their sports!

Salty_Watermelon | Clippers

13 | 19 hours ago

The notion that NBA owners care about fans is so outdated. You have a handful that are actual fans of basketball (e.g. Vivek, Ballmer), but the majority see team ownership as a status symbol and/or investment. Nothing more. If an owner buys a team for 5 billion, never makes the playoffs over a 10 year stretch, and sells the team for 10 billion, then that owner and the rest of the NBA owners will all be delighted.

The NBA never had a problem with Donald Sterling for how he ran his team. And the sad thing is that in post-2024 election America, he probably wouldn’t be forced out by the other owners for being an unapologetic racist scumbag.

sublliminali | Warriors

18 | 19 hours ago

Bullshit, I don’t get why this sentiment is so prevalent on here.

The league/owners blocked the kings moving to seattle in 2013 because they realized the PR was horrible and it’s basically never even been attempted since. I don’t see why other owners would be open to both a terrible look for the league and complicating their fat checks they’ll get from expansion.

Oakland_Warrior | Warriors

9 | 19 hours ago

I’m not a blazers fan but I’ve lived in portland for more than a decade…this reminds me of the A’s situation so much, it’s got the same stink. I’m moving back to California this year and I fear the Blazers are leaving town soon thereafter..Total bullshit because this city really loves their team.

[deleted]

96 | 19 hours ago

[removed]

WiffyTheSuss | Suns

11 | 16 hours ago

I mean you should be there already with the way the world is

GlassOnion25 | Lakers

77 | 19 hours ago

Moving the blazers out of Portland would be such a sports disaster. I truly can’t imagine an nba without the Portland trailblazers. Adam silver needs to fucking lay down the law for once

sallright | Cavaliers

44 | 17 hours ago

There should be a law against it. In Ohio, there is.

Some tool bought the Columbus Crew for the same reason - it was cheaper than an expansion fee.

But he found out he couldn’t move the team because Ohio passed a law after the Browns moved to prevent it from happening again.

In short, if your team receives a single dollar of public money at any point, you’re essentially prevented from picking up and moving out of state.

TheSmokedSalmon420 | Cavaliers

28 | 17 hours ago

Yep - The Modell Law

It should really be in place in every State that has major league teams. These greedy billionaires will try to take your team and flip it for profit if you let them. They are just companies and dollar signs to those people. Don’t let them.

iJustSeen2Dudes1Bike | Trail Blazers

16 | 18 hours ago

We all know he won’t. That dudes picture is next to “spineless” in the dictionary

dejvipasco | Bulls

71 | 19 hours ago

I was very happy that Sonics are coming back but now it doesn’t mean anything to me if Blazers are gone because of that. I don’t want an expansion if Portland is moving. I want both of them in the league Sonics and Blazers. Blazers are a big part of the NBA history, they had so many great players and their uniforms are iconic.

TheRealFakeDoors503 | Trail Blazers

33 | 17 hours ago

Most of us in Portland have been wanting the Sonics back since they left for OKC. Without em we don’t have our greatest rival.

Really hope Portland and the Blazers can figure it out and that the Sonics come back to reignite the I5 rivalry.

Uppun | Trail Blazers

13 | 15 hours ago

Billionaires suck but I’ll always have respect for Paul Allen for being one of the owners that voted against the sonics moving. Them moving would have theoretically been beneficial to him because then they’d be the only team left in the market but he still voted no. Cuban voted no too but moving to OKC was encroaching on his territory so it seems a little less altruistic on his part

JobTrunicht

67 | 19 hours ago

I can believe he’s using relocation as leverage, but I don’t see the other owners letting him take Seattle or Vegas.

If expansion really brings in around $15 billion, that’s roughly $500 million for every current owner. They’re not throwing that check away so Dundon can turn a $4.25 billion purchase into a team in a better market.

The threat is probably real enough to pressure Portland into paying for the arena. Actually getting the move approved is a completely different story.

SEAinLA | Supersonics

44 | 19 hours ago

The only two U.S. media markets bigger than Portland’s without a current NBA team are Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg and Raleigh-Durham, the latter of which is basically the exact same size as the Portland market.

Nbuuifx14 | Heat

36 | 19 hours ago

And I would bet that the Magic and Hornets would be quick to block both proposals.

AzureDragon013 | Lakers

26 | 19 hours ago

Isn’t Raleigh exactly where he wants to move? He owns the Carolina Hurricanes that’s already based there.

SEAinLA | Supersonics

47 | 19 hours ago

As far as I’m aware, he has zero personal connection to the Raleigh area beyond his ownership of the Hurricanes. He simply bought them because they were the team that became available.

And there is no way North Carolina is getting a second NBA franchise.

geofixer | Jazz

10 | 18 hours ago

Dundon did however just commit millions to remodel Raleigh’s arena. General speculation is that he wants to move to Raleigh to bolster his investment in the arena. I agree it would be a fucking stupid move but I wouldn’t put it past Dundon to try.

MicroSofty88

6 | 19 hours ago

And North Carolina already has a team

StreetwalkinCheetah | Kings

7 | 19 hours ago

Realistically Portland and Oregon will bend over backwards to keep the team which should be enough to block a move. But by coming in from out of nowhere with I’m moving talk he’s going to get probably a half billion more from the public than he would with a good faith negotiation and it’s going to cripple an already bankrupt city and state. Other owners are probably giddy seeing how they can take advantage of this themselves but at the same time the PR has been incredibly horrific. This isn’t a team playing in a 20 years out of date arena like Sacramento. Moda is old by league standards but a nice place to watch nonetheless.

carelesssportsfan89 | Spurs

27 | 19 hours ago

I honestly think that Tom Dundon doesn’t have much leverage as he think he does. Because the league has come out and said that the prefer expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle . Leaving Tom with very little option . He can’t move the blazers to Austin because the spurs would be furious about another team eating up the spurs market area . Mexico City would be difficult with the travel time . Dundon has very little leverage in my opinion but I could be wrong as well

Smooth_Sink_7028 | Lakers

30 | 19 hours ago

I hope Pablo Torre will find dirt about this man before the start of the season.

Icy_Internet5045

7 | 15 hours ago

There’s no way there’s not a ton, he’s such a scumbag

Eltonbeef

21 | 19 hours ago

And Adam Silver didn’t give a fuck.

preddevils6 | Grizzlies

11 | 19 hours ago

What can he do? Wouldn’t the other owners have to stop him?

Sweaty_Ad_1332

17 | 19 hours ago

Profited off the 2008 financial crisis and dumped his bag quick enough to keep grifting. Crazy work

Careless-Dare-1900 | Heat

15 | 19 hours ago

I seriously don’t think I’ll be watching the NBA if they allow this to go through, we already learned from taking a team from Seattle how it devastating it’s for the city and Stern even regrets moving the team.

SaulTBolls | Trail Blazers

17 | 19 hours ago

Those teams are spoken for and he would have to convince a bunch of other billionaires not to make an extra 400 million to move them.

QCTID

14 | 19 hours ago

NGL the Canes were primed for relocation but he hit the lotto on hiring Brind’Amour and the team coming together under him, that plus Raleigh cut a check for arena upgrades.

ETA: he also tried the same thing with AAF, invested hoping he swooped in right before an NFL deal and sold it off for parts the moment he realized it wasn’t happening. Raleigh better not dip on attendance like they did last time the team fell off or Charlottes getting an NHL team.

rook119

12 | 19 hours ago

I honestly think his primary goal is to just extort the f- out of Portland/Oregon to the tune of a 2B+ arena + no taxes.

And if that doesn’t work, move. The NBA won’t care, if Seattle/NV is getting a team they’ll need a basketball free city like Portland around as a sword of damacles to scare other cities.

gen_wt_sherman | Cavaliers

11 | 18 hours ago

Fuck Tom Dundon

Blastcrumpet888

8 | 19 hours ago

Fuck any owner and owners that allow teams to move cities.

Edit: Also, fuck any team that tries to pretend what happened in the previous city counts in the new city. Nothing is more pathetic than using another cities accolades.

GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace

9 | 18 hours ago

I mean there’s an easy fix, you just say that no one is allowed to move their team within 10 years of buying it or something, you know you can just make rules like that.

Jehovahs-Penis | Trail Blazers

8 | 19 hours ago

I am done done with tom dumb dumb

Consistent-Bid1212

3 | 19 hours ago

Seattle does not want Portland. Portland stays in PDX

No-Contest4033

5 | 19 hours ago

Dundon is a billionaire so he has no ethics, principles or morals. This scheme is so obvious that it’s true. It’s the textbook definition of Occam’s Razor.

Bill Simmons: “My fear for people in Portland is that he [Tom Dundon] looked at what the expansion number would be—which everybody’s saying is between \(7 billion and \)8 billion—and he’s like, ‘Ahh, I can just steal Portland for $4.25 billion and just move them somewhere else.’”