RAJ v Cherng Lawsuit. UPDATE: RAJ withdraws lawsuit, sale remains on track

[DusterBuster]

I'm assuming "resolution" means there was a settlement that involved money changing hands. Settlement/resolution are synonymous terms when lawsuits are 'resolved/settled' out of court. I think you guys are likely reading too much in the use of the word 'resolution'; a distinction without a difference

I personally wasn't reading into anything outside of the initial quote I saw that the lawsuit had been withdrawn,

Semantics aside, I genuinely couldn't care less if they settled with some financial compensation or not. Maybe I was wrong if saying it was frivolous, we'll never know, so it doesn't really matter. All that matters imo is this is out of the way, it won't slow down the sale to Dundon and the Cherngs are still part of the group - providing the Blazers some serious financial backing in the new group.

Also glad the RAJ group has nothing to do with the Blazers. Just from what I can see from the outside looking in based off their work with the Fire and the Kangz, they don't present themselves as a very strong sports ownership group. The Fire rollout has been messy from the jump, and while I'm probably overestimating their involvement / say with the Kings (they only control 20%, Vivek is majority owner at 65%), I'm totally fine not having anyone involved with that organization having a say with how the Blazers are operated.

Dundon at least has a proven track record as a sports owner.

[Wizenheimer]

I'm assuming "resolution" means there was a settlement that involved money changing hands. Settlement/resolution are synonymous terms when lawsuits are 'resolved/settled' out of court. I think you guys are likely reading too much in the use of the word 'resolution'; a distinction without a difference

I personally wasn't reading into anything outside of the initial quote I saw that the lawsuit had been withdrawn,

Semantics aside, I genuinely couldn't care less if they settled with some financial compensation or not. Maybe I was wrong if saying it was frivolous, we'll never know, so it doesn't really matter. All that matters imo is this is out of the way, it won't slow down the sale to Dundon and the Cherngs are still part of the group - providing the Blazers some serious financial backing in the new group.

Also glad the RAJ group has nothing to do with the Blazers. Just from what I can see from the outside looking in based off their work with the Fire and the Kangz, they don't present themselves as a very strong sports ownership group. The Fire rollout has been messy from the jump, and while I'm probably overestimating their involvement / say with the Kings (they only control 20%, Vivek is majority owner at 65%), I'm totally fine not having anyone involved with that organization having a say with how the Blazers are operated.

Dundon at least has a proven track record as a sports owner.

adding to that, it looks like the Fire have already bollixed their HC announcement:

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2025/10/with-social-media-misstep-portlands-wnba-team-causes-confusion-over-potential-coaching-hire.html

[tester551]

I'm assuming "resolution" means there was a settlement that involved money changing hands. Settlement/resolution are synonymous terms when lawsuits are 'resolved/settled' out of court. I think you guys are likely reading too much in the use of the word 'resolution'; a distinction without a difference

I personally wasn't reading into anything outside of the initial quote I saw that the lawsuit had been withdrawn,

Semantics aside, I genuinely couldn't care less if they settled with some financial compensation or not. Maybe I was wrong if saying it was frivolous, we'll never know, so it doesn't really matter. All that matters imo is this is out of the way, it won't slow down the sale to Dundon and the Cherngs are still part of the group - providing the Blazers some serious financial backing in the new group.

Also glad the RAJ group has nothing to do with the Blazers. Just from what I can see from the outside looking in based off their work with the Fire and the Kangz, they don't present themselves as a very strong sports ownership group. The Fire rollout has been messy from the jump, and while I'm probably overestimating their involvement / say with the Kings (they only control 20%, Vivek is majority owner at 65%), I'm totally fine not having anyone involved with that organization having a say with how the Blazers are operated.

Dundon at least has a proven track record as a sports owner.

adding to that, it looks like the Fire have already bollixed their HC announcement:

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2025/10/with-social-media-misstep-portlands-wnba-team-causes-confusion-over-potential-coaching-hire.html

Yeah- the more I see of the RAJ ownership group, the more incompetent they look

[DusterBuster]

I personally wasn't reading into anything outside of the initial quote I saw that the lawsuit had been withdrawn,

Semantics aside, I genuinely couldn't care less if they settled with some financial compensation or not. Maybe I was wrong if saying it was frivolous, we'll never know, so it doesn't really matter. All that matters imo is this is out of the way, it won't slow down the sale to Dundon and the Cherngs are still part of the group - providing the Blazers some serious financial backing in the new group.

Also glad the RAJ group has nothing to do with the Blazers. Just from what I can see from the outside looking in based off their work with the Fire and the Kangz, they don't present themselves as a very strong sports ownership group. The Fire rollout has been messy from the jump, and while I'm probably overestimating their involvement / say with the Kings (they only control 20%, Vivek is majority owner at 65%), I'm totally fine not having anyone involved with that organization having a say with how the Blazers are operated.

Dundon at least has a proven track record as a sports owner.

adding to that, it looks like the Fire have already bollixed their HC announcement:

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2025/10/with-social-media-misstep-portlands-wnba-team-causes-confusion-over-potential-coaching-hire.html

Yeah- the more I see of the RAJ ownership group, the more incompetent they look

This again would lead me to believe their lawsuit was probably pretty hollow... again, who knows, but from the outside looking in, they do look pretty incompetent.

[PDXKnight]

adding to that, it looks like the Fire have already bollixed their HC announcement:

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2025/10/with-social-media-misstep-portlands-wnba-team-causes-confusion-over-potential-coaching-hire.html

Yeah- the more I see of the RAJ ownership group, the more incompetent they look

This again would lead me to believe their lawsuit was probably pretty hollow... again, who knows, but from the outside looking in, they do look pretty incompetent.

I wouldn't want them here even in a .001 percent capacity. The nba shouldn't either

[Wizenheimer]

well for those condemning RAJ as being slimy and incompetent, which they very well might be, keep in mind the Cherngs were willing to partner with them in owning the Blazers

[DusterBuster]

well for those condemning RAJ as being slimy and incompetent, which they very well might be, keep in mind the Cherngs were willing to partner with them in owning the Blazers

For one, I’ve only called them incompetent, not slimy.

Secondly, I call them incompetent based on what I’ve seen of their publicly accessible history as sports owners.

The Cherngs, as far as I’m aware, have no prior experience in this space. So unlikely the RAJ group, I have nothing to pull on one way or another about their sports ownership record. I do know they seem to be entrusting the sports business day to day to Dundon, and he has a very strong history in sports ownership.

[tester551]

well for those condemning RAJ as being slimy and incompetent, which they very well might be, keep in mind the Cherngs were willing to partner with them in owning the Blazers

The speed at which business deals like this are put together - it's essentially like marrying someone after the first date. A lot of people can appear normal at first, and it takes a while to realize that they're bat $#![ crazy

[DusterBuster]

I'm not sure this functionally really matters... but for those interested:

Sale of Trail Blazers to Tom Dundon Will Take Multiple Years to Complete
https://frontofficesports.com/portland-trail-blazers-dundon-sale-celtics/

Regarding the lawsuit, it had this to say:

RAJ Sports voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit three weeks after filing it, but not before Dundon filed an affidavit saying he doesn’t need the Cherngs’ money to buy the team. RAJ Sports and the Cherngs reached a settlement out of court, which Dundon facilitated.

The term "voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit" doesn't sound like settled out of court, but maybe something under the table happened? We'll never know why this went to lawsuit only to disappear barely 2 weeks later...

Just purely sale related:

The deal is expected to close in March 2026 and Dundon will become the team’s majority owner when it does. A second transaction will take place at a later date for Dundon to buy the remaining stake in the team from the Allen estate. Jody Allen is currently the team’s governor; Dundon will replace her as governor after his first payment.

A league source compared the sale to Bill Chisholm’s recent purchase of the Celtics. Chisholm paid $6.1 billion for the team and assumed majority control in August, but will have a second transaction in 2028 to complete the sale. Chisholm had to raise additional capital to close the deal, which included Aditya Mittal of steel giant ArcelorMittal, who is a minority owner in his group.