The Blazers have a Tom Dundon problem

For Tom Dundon, it is about the money.

Or, even worse, it's about rich guy virtue signaling that he cares about the money so much that he ends up sending an unnecessary, divisive, and damaging message.

I guess that's the brilliance that Blazers fans can expect from their new subprime auto loan overlord. Clearly, only Dundon could see that playoff t-shirts for fans, early check-out times at hotels, two-way player travel, and 70+ long-tenured Blazers employees were the problem, and thus getting rid of these extravagances would help the Trail Blazers get over the playoff hump and bring another championship to Portland.

It wasn't the recent coach-is-part-of-a-gambling-ring scandal (Dundon's solution: play extreme lowball with the coaching community while searching for a replacement), or missing out on a generational superstar Victor Wembanyama by one lottery ball, or Portland's inability to land marquee NBA free agents (which Dundon's cost-cutting tactics have already damaged further).

No, the second set of reasons are too rational and actionable. Even more tellingly, they require nuanced, careful course correction i.e. they are outside the scope of power of knee jerk, new owner diktats.

Because Tom Dundon is an open and shut case for 'new owner syndrome' (one of Bill Simmons better inventions), meaning that, in service of his ego alone, Dundon is making business practice changes just to *do something* given that he just bought the team.

But, in the NBA, the devil is in the details. What at first might seem like minor changes could do real harm, fracturing the fan base and causing the Trail Blazers to slip further in areas they already struggle to compete in (most importantly, the NBA Free Agent market).

There are two possible explanations. I hate both, but the second is far more nefarious.

Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon has new owner syndrome

This is our first possible explanation for Dundon's edicts-and overall decision-making-thus far in his tenure.

I'm going to explain what 'new owner syndrome' is (in the words of Bill Simmons). Then, I'll explain how exactly it applies to Dundon and the Portland Trail Blazers (citing some of the recent fallout discussed in this week's Oregonian article).

New Owner Syndrome: "When you give competitive billionaires an NBA team, they're rarely (if ever) patient, Bill Simmons wrote in a piece for Grantland. "They want to win right away, and they're always going to plow ahead with a couple of risky/splashy moves because they don't know any better yet."

Now, Dundon is special in that he doesn't fit the splashy part of that definition. Unlike the Mark Cuban/Dan Gilbert/Steve Ballmer archetypes of yore, Dundon actually pushes the negative parts of the syndrome even further by being both risky and cheap.

See, the impetus behind new owner syndrome isn't a desire to spend cash. Rather, it is a desire to make changes for the sake of making changes. Dundon is doing that, only on the opposite side of the coin of the spend-to-spend guys, by cutting league-standard perks, cheaping out on t-shirts, and laying off 70+ senior employees in the Blazers' organization.

To prove my point, take a look at Dundon's rationale for the cuts (for context, Dundon also owns the Carolina Hurricanes):

"They have twice as many people as we have in Carolina, and my experience is that less layers gives people more accountability and they do a better job," Dundon told the Oregonian. "People are happier when they're busy and productive... This was mostly on the business side. The basketball, they're two separate businesses."

I didn't know you could have a false equivalency within a false equivalency, but there you go. Not only is an NBA organization vastly different from an NHL org for umpteen reasons, but the basketball and the business side of ANY professional sports organization are deeply intertwined. This is especially the case in the NBA, given the league's particularly symbiotic relationship with social media. So, at best, his rationale doesn't make sense. At worst, he's purposefully harming the organization and its culture.

Dundon went on to say that he saw an instinct from Blazers fans, both in the Jail Blazers days and now in response to some of his measures, to be 'negative'.

So, a neutral party might understand why Dundon's moves, pressers, and this recent article have divided fans. The Rip City fanbase has been at each other's throats on X, with longtime fan friendships breaking apart on the topic of Dundon's actions (particularly because of the firings).

The only thing more divisive than his actions has been the other explanation for why he is doing this.

Tom Dundon wants to move the Trail Blazers

There it is, the big worry.

Yes, I have to phrase it that way because this is a blog article. Hate the player, not the game.

The notion that Dundon might be doing this all on purpose is much scarier than him just being a headstrong new owner hoping to make a splash. The idea that he might be *intentionally* alienating the fanbase should scare every Portlander. It certainly scares me.

And there is already smoke to the fire. Dundon has openly discussed relocation on podcasts. However, I will note he largely said the right things:

"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," Dundon said on 'Game Over' with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul.

"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."

However-and my readers have heard me say this before-you don't say you are going to move a team if you want to move it. The obvious and easy thing to do is to say you are going to keep it where it is.

The real game begins when there is a financial battle over a new stadium, or debate over the owner not paying player contracts over the luxury tax, etc.

An ethical and legal battle then usually opens with the owner on one side and the city/state on the other. THEN, the fans really start to turn on you. We saw it with the Supersonics and with the As.

Now, I'm not saying this is for sure happening with Dundon and the Blazers - Occam's Razor says new owner syndrome, aka Dundon acting rashly at first here and then amending some of his wrongs once he sees their consequences, is far more likely. But I am saying it's a possibility, especially given his sheer number of flubs in so short a tenure.

You'd think Dundon would catch on and focus on spending on the team, or at least say something to that effect. It's also strange that he hasn't fully mea culpa-d. We'll see how it comes out in the wash, but I know one thing: hockey is not basketball, nor vice versa. So, if you're going to gaslight us, at least try harder.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 11:17 PM.