The Blazer arena deal, and some think the future of NBA basketball in Portland, took a turn for the worse over the last few days. Yesterday the team lashed out at the city over the terms contained in the daffy “draft term sheet” that the city sent the team last week. Meanwhile, two of the socialistas on the City Council sassed the Blazers pretty hard on social media.
It’s people behaving like jerks now, everywhere you look. Deals do not go forward in that atmosphere.
The headline in the O quotes Blazer sources as being quite blunt:
Meanwhile, over on Bluesky, we read:
Respect my authoritah! And on Facebook, we get this:
The Blazers source actually responded to that. A market deal, they said, would be a completely new arena. Wow.
If the renovation finance transaction is ever going to close, everybody involved is going to have to stop duking it out on the internet. But with both city and county politicians running for re-election in November (including Lane), that’s probably not a realistic hope.
Case in point: The city’s goofy “draft term sheet.” It’s labeled “Privileged and Confidential,” but a day later, the city posted the whole thing on the web.
Meanwhile, in the relevant article in the New York Times’ “Athletic” subdivision comes the first mention of the Portland city administrator, Raymond Lee, although they don’t give his name. Apparently Raymond has a flack now, and they too are pushing back on the team’s complaints:
The Blazers say a handshake agreement with Mayor Keith Wilson, the city and the county was made in March, and are confused why there has been a shift.
“They have made this a bit of a political football,” said a second source inside the Blazers. “They’re asking for things that change the deal dramatically.”
Elliott Kozuch, a spokesman for the city administrator, confirmed there was momentum with city officials in March toward reaching an agreement, but nothing concrete.
“While city leadership did endorse the conceptual funding proposal in March, it was always clear that City Council and County Commission approval would be required to formalize the local government commitments,” Kozuch said.
Kozuch said the City Administrator’s office has viewed some of the Blazers’ plans shared online, but added that the city needs to see more.
“The Trail Blazers shared high-level concepts for potential upgrades to the arena, but the city has not received a formal design review or detailed project plan. A complete understanding of proposed improvements will require additional information as negotiations continue.”
Poor Lee. I’m sure this saga is cutting deeply into his professional development conference junket time. And if the Blazer deal does crater, his Grandpa Keith may let Lee be the scapegoat. Raymond couldn’t get a minor league hockey arena built in Greeley, Colorado, and now he’s dealing with something way more difficult.
Can you imagine a cocky redneck Texas billionaire, a predatory loan guy, a man who insisted on engraving his kids’ names on the Stanley Cup, in a conference room, sitting through speeches by Lane, Lee, and Avalos? Oh, and Steve Novick is there as the reasonable person. I don’t see it happening. Not for a second, ever.
If Dundon’s still the owner five years from now, he’ll probably try to move the Blazers, assuming he can afford to. Right now he hasn’t even completed the purchase of the team, no doubt for lack of available cash, and so the threat of leaving should not be viewed as imminent. But Ja Morant may be back in the Volunteer State before his career is over.
Anyway, who says the Blazers don’t provide quality entertainment any more? This is way more interesting that any of their last five seasons.
UPDATE, 3:35 p.m.: Now the county’s getting cold feet, too. Old Dundon is not getting his way.