Tom Dundon is buying the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, he told CNBC in an interview.
The Dallas businessman is chairman and founder of Dundon Capital Partners. He ― along with a group of investors ― will reportedly buy the team at a valuation of around $4 billion.
Sportico first reported the sale.
The ownership group plans to keep the team in Portland, according to The Oregonian.
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Dundon is already a prolific investor in the sports business world. He is the lead owner of the National Hockey League franchise Carolina Hurricanes. His firm is also an investor in Major League Pickleball, the Professional Pickleball Association and Topgolf Callaway.
Dundon’s group is buying the NBA team from the estate of Paul Allen, the late Microsoft co-founder who purchased the Trail Blazers in 1988. Jody Allen has been managing the team since her brother died in 2018.
Dundon Capital and the Trail Blazers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Trail Blazers have been an NBA franchise since 1970 and captured the 1977 NBA championship under Hall of Fame center Bill Walton.
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) drives on Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game at American Airlines Center on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in Dallas.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
The team has been rebuilding in recent years, drafting in the lottery in the last four seasons and trading away franchise legend Damian Lillard and all-star CJ McCollum.
The team recently re-signed Lillard, who will sit most of the year with a torn Achilles, and traded for defensive-minded NBA veteran point guard Jrue Holiday to pair with young players such as Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson.
Former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban, who sold the team in late 2023, said he spoke with Dundon many times about the prospect of buying an NBA team.
“I even brought him to a few Mavs meetings in the past,” Cuban said in an email. “He will be a great Blazers fan.”