New owner ‘doesn’t have any interest’ in selling Blazers, expert says

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The sale of the Portland Trail Blazers to an ownership group led by Tom Dundon has officially closed, the team announced.

This week the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the transaction

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Now Dundon’s group, Rip City Rising, is assuming majority control of the Blazers, as well as the Rip City Remix, and Rip City Management.

Dundon enters the new role as the debate over who’s paying for renovations to the Moda Center is set to heat up.

Sean Highkin, who covers the Blazers for the Rose Garden Report, said Portlanders should look at what Dundon did with his hockey franchise in North Carolina if they’re expecting him to contribute anything to the project.

“Part of the agreement there was that he will contribute a pretty significant amount of money towards the development of stuff like bars, restaurants, entertainment districts, stuff like that around the arena that they have in Raleigh for the Hurricanes,” Highkin said. “And I think the plan is very much the same here.”

As it stands now, Highkin says the Rose Quarter does not have much of an entertainment district at all outside of the Moda Center.

“I think the idea is to try to change that situation a little bit and get some other business things going on, and I so if there’s going to be any contribution from the ownership group to the efforts, it’s going to be more in that realm than it is the actual costs of the updates to the building itself,” he said.

At last week’s board of governors meetings in New York, Highkin talked with the NBA’s top executive, who he says wasn’t shy about his wishes for the future of basketball in Portland.

“The commissioner was pretty definitive that he doesn’t have any interest in seeing the Trail Blazers move to a different city,” Highkin said. “He said that it was really important to Paul Allen to keep the team in Portland and that the estate wanted to honor those wishes and only talk to groups that wanted to keep the team here.”

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The team said Dundon will serve as Governor, with Marc Zahr, Stan Middleman, Andrew Cherng, and Sheel Tyle serving as Alternate Governors. The ownership group also includes Richard Chaifetz, Marc Grandisson, Nayel Nassar and Jennifer Gates, Taavet Hinrikus, and Dan Zilberman, according to the team.

“Today is the beginning of a new chapter for the Portland Trail Blazers, as we build on the legacy of this storied franchise,” Dundon said. “On behalf of our ownership group, my commitment to this tremendous fan base is that we are going to be relentless towards building a team that can compete at the highest level, every single season.”

The team will introduce Dundon, Cherng, and Tyle at a press conference April 2 at the Moda Center.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

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New owner ‘doesn’t have any interest’ in selling Blazers, expert says

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