Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon has addressed the criticism swirling around the NBA world about him and the franchise’s controversial cost-cutting measures since he took over this spring.
In his first public comments since his introductory press conference in April, Dundon participated in an extensive interview this week on The Ringer’s “Game Over” podcast with hosts Max Kellerman and Rich Paul. The hosts asked Dundon about those “cheap” accusations, his roster-building philosophy, the threat
of relocation for the Blazers and much more.
Note: Rich Paul is an NBA agent and the CEO of Klutch Sports Group, which represents four Trail Blazers players — Jerami Grant, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson Yang Hansen — as well as Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and acting head coach Tiago Splitter.
Below are some notable answers Dundon gave during the interview.
Dundon on whether he’s willing to go into the luxury tax to build the Blazers roster:
“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, and 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 the various media reports and criticisms calling him cheap:
“My hockey team has been over the cap many times. They were the lowest in the league. They were at the floor when I bought ‘em. You can go over the cap in hockey. If you have a hurt player, you can replace them. So I’ve been over the cap multiple times because there was a rule that allowed you to go over the cap. And at the same time, when I walk out of a room, I turn off the lights. And so, my friends make fun of me all the time. They’re telling me how bad I am at being rich.
“I just don’t want to waste money. I want to invest it. I’ll have as 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 $100 million 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 $100 million, 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.”
On the decision not to travel with two-way players on the road during Games 1 and 2 of Portland’s first-round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs (a decision Portland later reversed by Game 5 after public backlash):
“On traveling players, I just made a mistake. I just don’t understand the league. In hockey, we don’t travel extra people, because we’re not on vacation. We’re here to win, so we don’t want the distraction. The NBA seems to live with those distractions. It’s not how I think about it. So, you’ve sorta gotta learn what’s the differences between the two leagues.”
On the decision to make the team’s travel party check-out early from their Phoenix hotel prior to Portland’s Play-In game against the Phoenix Suns:
“The hotel story with the staff is an interesting story, I think, because, normally, when you travel, you get late checkout, right? … 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, etcetera.
“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 the possibility of moving the Blazers out of 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. So, for me, it’s never been really a thing. We didn’t buy the team to move it. We bought the Portland Trail Blazers.”
On what would happen if he doesn’t get the support from the city or the state for the funding agreement:
“We would deal with that if it ever comes up. But, obviously, we have to solve problems when we have problems. Today, the problem we’re trying to solve is just to get a lease extension and get the building renovated. And those are fun things to do, right? Making the building better and adding some energy to that building. Those are things I enjoy doing.”
Dundon discusses more during the interview, including the free T-shirts versus towels situation from the playoffs and his reaction to Billups’ shocking arrest in October.
You can listen to the full episode here. Dundon’s interview begins at about the 50-minute mark.
