Tom Dundon met with the Portland Trail Blazers inside Intuit Dome before Tuesday’s game against the LA Clippers and told the team the bar is moving. “The standard is changing,” he said. “Right now, where we are isn’t where I think we can be.”
In an exclusive interview before Tuesday’s game, Dundon said he “can’t handle losing” and “can’t handle thinking something could be done better.” He also said the organization had been in a different place the last couple years and was starting to build now.
The meeting landed on a day when the Blazers were already under pressure to show the franchise is headed somewhere. Portland has not made the playoffs since 2021, and attendance has dwindled since a rebuild started in 2022. The team is also seeking public funding for $600 million in renovations to the Moda Center, making every sign of direction and discipline part of the bigger pitch around the franchise.
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Dundon, who also owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, brings a track record that fits the hard-edged tone he delivered to Portland. The Hurricanes have reached the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons under him and have made the Eastern Conference final three times, with Carolina tied for first in the East this season.
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That is the promise and the pressure in Dundon’s arrival. He is known as a demanding and calculated owner who leans on analytics and gut feeling, and the first message he sent to the Blazers was not about patience but standards. For a franchise trying to rebuild both its roster and its case for public support, the next measure will not be what he said Tuesday. It will be whether Portland starts looking like a team he believes can be better.
