I'm optimistic about the Blazers anyway
Tom Dundon has spent his first six months cutting staff, skipping playoff T-shirts and eyeing the exits. I'm not gonna let that bring me down.
I can’t help it. I’m excited about this Blazers season.
Not “excited, but.” Just excited. How can you not be, when we get to experience “Dame Time” again? And that’s not even the wildest part about the Blazers’ off-season!
The Dundon Conundrum
The Blazers’ sale to Tom Dundon closed this March. Six months in, here are the highlights so far:
- About 70 employees were laid off in May. His explanation was that fewer layers of management means more accountability.
- During the playoffs, the team’s two-way players weren’t allowed to travel for the first two games in San Antonio. He has since called that a mistake.
- There were no free T-shirts for home playoff games, which most playoff teams hand out. His take was that T-shirts don’t have anything to do with winning, and that fans weren’t focused on the right things. (Note: I actually agree with this; please don’t yell at me.)
- The broadcast crew was gutted. It sounds like longtime pro Kevin Calabro was also treated pretty shoddily at the time. Truly cringeworthy stuff.
- Tiago Splitter, who took over as interim coach and got the team into the playoffs, wasn’t brought back. His replacement, Micah Nori, got a three-year deal with only the first year guaranteed.
- And the biggest elephant in the room: Dundon wants roughly $600 million in public money for arena renovations, without committing his own, and moving the team is the unspoken alternative.
None of that is illegal. But a basketball team isn’t only a business. It’s one of the few things a whole city shares. When the owner treats free T-shirts as waste, he’s telling you how he sees the people wearing them.
Yes, a lot of this is just how a certain kind of businessman runs things. But I don’t love it.
The team on the floor
Here’s the thing, though. Last season the Blazers went 42-40, got through the play-in, and took a game from the Spurs in San Antonio before losing the series in five. That was with an unexpected coaching change at the start of the season, Damian Lillard on the sidelines the entire time, rehabbing a torn Achilles, and Scoot Henderson gone for most of the year.
The people who made that happen are mostly still here:
- Deni Avdija became the best player on the team. He’s not a prospect anymore.
- Donovan Clingan led the league in offensive rebounds, at 4.5 a game.
- Toumani Camara drew more offensive fouls than anyone in the NBA, 106 of them. That stat tells you exactly what kind of player he is.
- Jrue Holiday is still a pro.
Then add the backcourt. Lillard is back, healthy, in a Blazers jersey again. And the team traded Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to Memphis for Ja Morant, which is not a sentence I expected to type a year ago.
Why I’m not worried (much)
Yes, I am bummed about the loss of Shaedon Sharpe. Yes, the Blazers’ guard rotations are still mysterious and loaded with small defensive liabilities. This is the team’s third head coach in less than twelve months.
Yahoo Sports projects them at 34-48, which would be a step backward. I’ve watched a lot of Blazers teams that were safe bets to be mediocre. This one isn’t safe. The Nori hire could be great. Portland has a knack for rehabilitating faded stars. The defense might be a problem. The games won’t be boring.
Don’t hate the player(s), hate the game
Portland fans are a persnickety bunch. We’re gonna find something to have a problem with. Am I worried about the existential future of the Blazers at the hands of an owner whose relationship with the region is complex at best? Of course. But I can’t do anything about that. What I can do is appreciate the greatest Blazer of all time coming back for one more go-round. Who doesn’t want to see that?