Tuesday marked Tom Dundon’s first day as owner and Governor of the Trail Blazers. Dundon sat down with THE ATHLETIC’s Jason Quick ahead of the Trail Blazers’ game against the Clippers to share his vision. Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Q: I think there is a general unease among employees, worrying you are going to come in and make sweeping changes.

Dundon: “Everybody who’s not thinking like that every day — like, regardless if there’s new ownership, if you don’t wake up fighting for your job, fighting for your spot, then that mindset is probably not very good anyway. So if it takes this for people to think like that, then that’s fine. But I want people thinking about the future and not worrying about what I’m gonna do. They need to worry about what they’re gonna do. But I don’t like getting rid of people. I like to see who’s capable of taking that next step. So, I’m not looking to get rid of people. I’m looking to get better.”

Q: Some people are fearful you will move the team out of Portland. Can you offer any assurances that you won’t?

Dundon: “We haven’t spent any time on that. (Team president) Dewayne (Hankins) and the team have spent all their time trying to figure out how to renovate Moda Center. Anything that people write or say, it’s just made up, because nobody has spent any time on that.”

Q: Why won’t you put any money into the arena?

Dundon: “Well, so the way the arena deal will work is we are going to commit to be here for a long term (20 years), and that commitment’s worth way more than anything else anybody’s gonna do. And so …”

Q: Twenty years is pretty standard, though.

Dundon: “I don’t think so in terms of the market.”

Q: So you think 20 years is enough currency, so to speak?

Dundon: “Twenty years? That’s a lot” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/1).

BLACK & WHITE: In Portland, Bill Oram notes the Trail Blazers “could relocate” without a $600M investment in renovating the Moda Center. Oram raised the question, “If all those public dollars come through, does that take relocation off the table?” Dundon said, “Of course.” It was the “long-awaited pledge from the new steward of Portland’s most precious civic asset” (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/1).

FAMILIAR TIES: In Portland, Joel Odom reported “a tie to Microsoft will remain” for the Trail Blazers, as one of the team’s new minority owners is Jennifer Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Jennifer Gates, a doctor in her second year of pediatric residency at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in N.Y., is a minority owner along with her husband Nayel Nassar, a professional equestrian who competed at the 2020 Tokyo Games (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/31).

TAKING A BOW: Oram in a separate piece noted outgoing Trail Blazers Chair Jody Allen on Tuesday “offered parting words to Trail Blazers employees and fans.” She called it an “honor to serve as the chair of the team” since her brother Paul Allen’s passing and called the sale to Dundon “positive for the team (and) the community” (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/31).

IN THE HUDDLE: In Portland, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh reported records showed that Portland city leaders have “for months relied on a code name to discretely refer to the towering public finance deal they’ve deemed essential to keep the Trail Blazers from leaving town.” Top city officials have “held a weekly ‘Project Mt. Hood’ meeting since at least early November,” focused on a “taxpayer funded renovation of the Moda Center.” City spokesperson Cody Bowman confirmed this week that the regular calendar event was “about the arena renovation” but he could not “say who exactly came up with the moniker” (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/31).

FANFARE: In Portland, Eve Peyser noted the Trail Blazers are currently 39-38, meaning if the regular season had ended Tuesday, they would host a play-in game against the Warriors — a first in franchise history. Many “expected the Blazers to have a losing record this season,” and the fact that they are ahead of schedule has “inspired newfound optimism in Portland.” CRO Galen Davies said that ticket sales have been “steadily increasing and the season ticket renewal rate, is the highest it’s ever been: 96%.” Davies said, “When you go through a rebuilding process, as we have over the past couple of years, you know what’s coming next is bigger and better than what you have today. We’re starting to see a byproduct of that.” Along with ticket sales, Davies said that the Trail Blazers’ broadcast audience on Rip City TV “has increased 200%” over the past two years. He also said that the team’s social media engagement “has increased dramatically” (PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/31).