The Portland Trail Blazers have a $4.25 billion owner, a deteriorating arena lease negotiation, and now one of basketball’s most respected analysts publicly begging the league not to let the whole thing go sideways.
Zach Lowe, in comments that surfaced on social media this week, directed a blunt message at the NBA regarding the Trail Blazers’ new ownership group led by Tom Dundon. “Portland is an awesome NBA market,” Lowe said. “The NBA needs to not fuck this up. Do not let this guy come in here and hijack this franchise and remove it from Portland.” He added: “Their fans are better than this. They don’t deserve this.”
Lowe’s remarks land at a moment when the machinery of relocation — dormant in Portland for decades — has started grinding. The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Blazers from the estate of the late Paul Allen to Dundon’s investor group on March 30, 2026, at a valuation of $4.25 billion. The group, branded “Rip City Rising,” assumed control the following day. Front Office Sports reported that Dundon’s group is acquiring 80% of the franchise in the deal’s first phase.
The friction point is the Moda Center. The Athletic reported on July 19 that the Trail Blazers and the city of Portland are “very far apart” on a lease agreement, with new ownership seeking public funding to renovate the arena. Yahoo Sports reported in May that the ownership group could relocate the franchise over a funding dispute estimated at $600 million, and that the group’s early moves had already alienated portions of the fanbase.
That reporting drew a counterargument from Sports Illustrated, which published a piece on July 20 titled “Why Tom Dundon Probably Isn’t Moving Blazers Out of Portland.” Sports Business Journal reported in August 2025 that Dundon’s stated willingness to keep the team in its home market was a factor in the estate’s decision to accept his bid over competing offers. Dundon also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, a franchise he has not relocated since purchasing in 2018.
But Lowe’s concern is less about what Dundon has done and more about what the leverage of a broken lease could enable. Arena funding disputes are the most common precursor to relocation in American professional sports. The Seattle SuperSonics left in 2008 after a similar standoff over KeyArena renovations. The league has not had a team relocate since then, but the playbook is familiar to anyone who watched it happen.
Dundon’s background has done little to ease the anxiety. ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that a company Dundon founded was accused of predatory lending practices by the state of Oregon — a detail that complicated his reception in Portland even before the arena negotiations soured.
For a market that has sold out Moda Center through rebuilds, roster turnover, and a decade of postseason futility, the idea that the franchise could be leveraged against the city is, as Lowe put it, something the fans do not deserve. Whether the NBA agrees — and whether the league’s relocation committee ever gets involved — will depend on what happens at the negotiating table, not on the broadcast.
Sources
- ESPN — NBA Board of Governors approves Blazers sale to Tom Dundon group
- The Athletic — Trail Blazers and Portland “very far apart” on lease agreement
- Yahoo Sports — New Trail Blazers owner could relocate franchise over $600M dispute
- Sports Illustrated — Why Tom Dundon probably isn’t moving Blazers out of Portland
- Sports Business Journal — Dundon’s willingness to keep Blazers in Portland played role in sale
- ProPublica — Tom Dundon’s company accused of predatory lending
- Front Office Sports — Dundon’s group buying 80% of Blazers in deal’s first phase
- NBA.com — Rip City Rising ownership group assumes control of Trail Blazers