NBA Commissioner Adam Silver isn’t hiding where he stands on the Trail Blazers’ future in Portland.
Asked by The Oregonian’s Bill Oram about the status of the proposed arena renovation deal, Silver made his position plain Tuesday.
"I would see it as a failure if we did not keep the team in Portland. 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."
Silver added: "It is my hope and belief that the Trail Blazers can be successful in Portland, Oregon," he added. "It is important at the same time that Tom Dundon reaches a deal with the city officials and the state elected officials that makes operating in Portland viable for the long term."
That matters because the Blazers are in a strange spot right now. On one hand, the basketball side has some real momentum: Portland’s young core ended a four-year playoff drought, and the city also added a WNBA franchise in the Fire. On the other, that good news has been drowned out by the arrival of new owner Tom Dundon, whose cost-cutting approach has already put the franchise in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
The bigger issue is the arena situation. Oregon has already committed $365 million to the project, but that money expires at the end of this year. A city council vote is set for December, and with the current lease running through 2030, a 20-year extension would keep the Blazers in Portland through 2050.
For now, the most likely outcome is still that the team stays put. Portland has long fit the profile of a small-to-mid-market franchise whose fans consistently show up and make themselves heard, and with expansion on the horizon, there’s also the appeal of eventually restoring the I-5 rivalry between Portland and Seattle.
Still, the tone around the negotiations has been uneasy, and Silver’s comments underscore that. Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report has already said he’s optimistic a deal will get done, but the start of these talks has been rocky enough to leave room for concern.
What makes the whole situation especially tense is how Dundon appears to be viewing the franchise. If this is simply a business asset to him rather than something tied to the city and community, that raises obvious questions about how hard he’ll push to keep the Blazers in Portland.
Silver is firmly in Portland’s corner. The question now is whether that support, by itself, will be enough.
In Other News...
Clippers Trade Idea Puts A Price Tag On A Useful Veteran
The Trail Blazers are still sorting out the edges of their roster, and a new trade idea puts a familiar veteran name into the conversation as they look for more stability at center and forward. Portland has been navigating a depth chart that could still use reinforcement, while the other side of the proposal is a Clippers team in need of draft capital and younger pieces after being hit with penalties tied to salary cap circumvention.
In that framework, the suggested swap would move Yang Hansen, Vit Krejci, and two 2027 second-round picks to Los Angeles. For Portland, it would be a buy-now move aimed at adding a useful veteran without waiting on longer-term development, but the real question is whether the Blazers see enough upside in paying that price to make the idea more than just a tidy piece of trade-board math. [Read more 🡒]
Donovan Clingan Could Decide How Fast The Blazers Turn This Around
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Micah Nori is expected to build part of the Blazers identity around that backbone, and Clingans development could end up shaping how quickly the whole thing moves. Portland already knows the size and activity are there, but the next step is turning that into a more consistent two-way anchor. How much Clingan grows from here may say a lot about whether this reset feels like a slow climb or something closer to a quick turnaround. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Arena Plan Still Hinges On One Funding Decision
Multnomah County is still sorting through how to cover its $101.6 million share of the $600 million Moda Center renovation, and commissioners spent part of the week weighing four different paths to get there. The options ranged from no tax increase at all to modest bumps in either the rental car tax or the hotel tax, as county officials continue looking for revenue sources that can make up for property tax revenue tied to the arena deal.
The discussion underscored how much of the Blazers arena future now depends on one funding decision the county has yet to make a final call on. Officials have been wary of leaning too hard on the hotel tax given current occupancy rates, and the county still has not scheduled a vote, leaving the renovation plan in a familiar holding pattern while the money side of the agreement works itself out. [Read more 🡒]