Tom Dundon's Real Leverage Play: The NBA's Cheapest Owner Has Portland Right Where He Wants It
The Portland Bluff?
The Portland Trail Blazers are a definitionally average team, tucked away up there in John Canzano Country. They aren’t a plausible LeBron James destination and shouldn’t theoretically be front of mind for the NBA world. And yet, the Blazers lead off Brian Windhorst’s Summer League buzz column and are prominently featured in John Hollinger’s.
The reason is new Blazers owner Tom Dundon, whose last name sounds like the start of a Law & Order episode. Nicknamed El Cheapo by Bill Simmons, the loan magnate has made immediate waves in the league with his ruthless penny pinching. Our guy Tom Haberstroh is among the latest Blazers employees to be impacted by Dundon’s shrinkage efforts. Such cost-cutting wouldn’t be a national-level story except for a growing Pacific Northwest worry about losing another NBA team. Dundon wants taxpayers to fund long-needed renovations to the Moda Center and there is wrangling to be done.
I think I have good news for Blazers fans. Just don’t hold me to it. I’m not saying that all Tom Dundon’s cheapness is for show, but, to quote Logan Roy, “it’s a move.” And I don’t think that move is out of Oregon, but for a specific worst-case scenario. Let’s go over why.