Source: https://www.rosegardenreport.com/trail-blazers-two-way-players-watching-playoff-run-from-home/

The Trail Blazers had many season-saving wins in an up-and-down year on the way to the first-round matchup against the San Antonio Spurs that begins Sunday night.

Near the top of that list is a Nov. 21 road victory over the Golden State Warriors that snapped a four-game losing skid as injuries started to catch up with the Blazers all at once.

In that game, with the opening-night starting backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Shaedon Sharpe both dealing with calf injuries, it was rookie two-way guard Caleb Love that stepped up. Love played 37 minutes that night, scoring a career-high 26 points and hitting six three-pointers to help the Blazers outlast the Warriors and pick up a much-needed win to right the ship.

It was the first in a string of big performances for Love, who took full advantage of Portland's bleak injury situation to establish himself as an NBA-caliber player and help keep the team afloat.

The Blazers would not be in the playoffs without Love. Now that they've made it, he can't play because two-ways aren't eligible for the postseason.

And in a move that could only be attributed to more cost-cutting measures from new owner Tom Dundon, Love and the Blazers' other two-ways, Chris Youngblood and Jayson Kent, did not travel to San Antonio with the team for Games 1 and 2 and will be watching from home in Portland.

This is well outside of standard practice in the NBA. All seven other road teams on the first weekend this year's playoffs brought their two-way players to the games even though they can't play, sources close to those teams confirmed. They may be stuck in street clothes, but they're still being treated like they're part of their teams.

41 comments

  2. lol, billionaire doesn’t wanna pay the equivalent of loose change to send a few players to San Antonio

  3. Buying a team and immediately being this much of a cheap ass is egregious. Id get banned from reddit if i said what i want to say about it lmao

  4. Man, I didn’t think we still did the whole buy the team and cut costs thing. Usually if you’re a new owner you do the Mat Ishbia and try to spend your way into everyone’s good graces

  6. Truly poverty franchise shit. So far he has:

    Cut shirts for the playoff home games

    Lowballed during the coaching search

    Left staff waiting in the hotel lobby for hours rather than pay for late check-out

    And now screwed our two-ways, especially Love who was a major contributor during the first half of the season.

    This cheap prick couldn’t have even waited to the offseason to sort this stuff out? He’s saying “fuck you” to the fans, staff, and players, and also is demanding a $600 million renovation which he’ll contribute nothing to.

  8. I’m glad my Jazz has Ryan Smith bringing hockey to town, spending hundreds of millions for arena renovations, 3 dollar hot dogs, spending on luxury practice facilities, having the players for the Mammoth and Jazz praise him

    Ryan Smith looks like he has Elon Musk’s net worth compared to Tom Dundon

  9. I really hate cheap billionaire owners. Every thing I know about this guy is from reports I’ve seen but he seems incredibly cheap. Like wanting a head coach for $1.5 Million. There are assistant coaches who make that.

  10. Sorry to hear that. I’ve had employers cheapen out and it sucks to get the short end of the stick. Hopefully he’ll see a few thousand bucks is nothing and that sort of mindset isn’t going to make things better for the organization.

  16. The irony is that all this penny pinching is gonna make them have to overpay for any FA over a min

  20. Can wait to spend my tax dollars to do $600,000,000 in renovations to the rose garden for him.

  21. I hope there’s enough time between games 2 and 3 for the team bus to make it all the way back to Portland.

  22. I hate when owners like this buy a team. These guys are strictly looking at the teams as a business only.

  24. What is the background check on people like this becoming owners? Like do they just have to show they can financially support the team and not make it a going concern? Wild a guy this cheap can get in considering how much the buyin is to become an owner these days

  27. Already hate this guy, I don’t think he gets NBA culture. This is demoralizing for the team. 

  29. Being this cheap should be grounds to force you to sell your team.

    Owners that don’t care about winning need to get out of the league.

  30. Dude is a cheap fuck in the NHL where the MVP makes the same salary as a bad starting pitcher. Gonna be a wild ride in the association.

  35. I remember getting downvoted to hell for commenting “Fuck Tom Dundon” when he bought the team. He may be the cheapest scumbag in sports ownership, and that’s saying something. If there’s anyone here who remembers the AAF (spring football league), which shut down halfway through its inaugural season, you may recall the backlash that Dundon faced from fans. He funded the league and he pulled the rug out from underneath it midseason, stranding players, coaches, and staffs in their respective cities with checks ceasing immediately. He doesn’t give a singular fuck about his employees or his customers.

  36. Why buy a team if you’re just going to micromanage a bunch of non savings?

    So weird.

  37. Yea no way in hell he’s voting in favor of expansion. In Seattle especially!

  38. Would be great if Adam Silver cared about having scum bag ownership as much as tanking.

Comments are closed.