NBA commissioner Adam Silver weighed in on the ongoing dispute between Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon and city officials about arena renovations on Tuesday, saying he strongly prefers an outcome that keeps the team in the city where the franchise was founded in 1970.
“I want to be very direct about it: I would see it as a failure if we did not keep the team in Portland,” Silver told reporters during his Board of Governors news conference in New York. “I’ve spent a lot of time in that community over the years. They’ve shown amazing support for the Trail Blazers. They’re some of our best fans around the league.
“But at the same time — and now I speak for our WNBA team in the market, as well — we need a state-of-the-art arena. I think by any objective measure now, the current building there (Moda Center) is in the bottom measure of any in the league. And I think everyone in the community acknowledges — not just for NBA and WNBA basketball, but for all the multiuses of these modern arenas … concerts, conventions, graduations, you name it — that the community needs the same thing.”
Dundon has been at odds with city officials since buying the Blazers last summer, with local concerns growing about a possible relocation when a resolution couldn’t be reached. While the framework for $586 million in public funding to renovate Moda Center is now in place, the terms have not been agreed to by the city and county. Moda Center is owned by the city.
A Dec. 17 Portland City Council vote looms large, as the $365 million committed by the Oregon state legislature in Senate Bill 1501 will expire on Dec. 31. With the Blazers’ current lease set to expire in October 2030, the loss of those funds would be widely seen as a death knell to the negotiations. Dundon is asking for improved financial terms on the 20-year Moda Center lease that’s being negotiated, as well.
As Silver referenced, the talks between the two sides have escalated publicly at times. From his vantage point, there is hope that the discussions had with Dundon during the two days of owners’ meetings help the sensitive situation.
“It’s my hope that we can lower the temperature, honestly, a bit in these negotiations,” Silver said. “I had an opportunity to spend some significant amount of time with Tom Dundon while he was here in New York at our meetings. We did discuss the situation around Portland in one of our committee meetings with Tom. I think he was able to bounce ideas off of other owners who have been through similar negotiations in other communities. I think there’s some lessons to be learned there.
“I’m offering myself and the league office to assist all parties there. But as I’ve said, we’ve had a great track record in Portland, and no doubt in my mind it would be a failure if we weren’t able to accomplish a result that makes Portland basketball — NBA and WNBA — viable for the long term.”