Blazers sold to Carolina Hurricanes owner, Tom Dundon

[Onlytimewilltel]

Fresno got the baddies Latinas and Hmong girls if you know you know. Economy on the upswing and tons of family activities. Waaay better than true dumps like Seattle which many of you keep championing.

Lots of places got baddies dude lol. You're very likely one of the only people in the entire world that thinks NBA team in Fresno has a chance. It's just not happening. Wake up and smell the coffee man.

You'll see, You'll all see.

[Clav]

Fresno got the baddies Latinas and Hmong girls if you know you know. Economy on the upswing and tons of family activities. Waaay better than true dumps like Seattle which many of you keep championing.

Lots of places got baddies dude lol. You're very likely one of the only people in the entire world that thinks NBA team in Fresno has a chance. It's just not happening. Wake up and smell the coffee man.

You'll see, You'll all see.

Honestly, I think a MLS team has a better chance in Fresno than an NBA team. The cultural connection to futbol is definitely more apropros. I appreciate your spirit, though!

If Fresno gets an NBA team, I will see, I will see a game there

[andalusian]

Not sure the 80 years old aunties that sell live chicken at the Hmong marketplace deserve the word baddies, but ok.

[Pelon chingon]

Not sure the 80 years old aunties that sell live chicken at the Hmong marketplace deserve the word baddies, but ok.

Hmmm.

[TheCage4]

I think the NBA realizes what they lost when the Sonics moved to OKC (no shade at Oklahoma). Granted, I believe a stadium dispute, etc, led to the Sonics relocating.

I'm sure somewhere in the agreement there is language that says the team stays in Portland.

It was reported that in the will of Paul Allen, it was explicitly stated to find an own committed to keeping the team in Portland. He had no desire to see the team moved. One would assume his sister did her best to find a suitor who would fulfill that wish.

Dundon is still actively recruiting more and more people to his ownership group from Portland from what we've heard. He doesn't have enough money to buy a team outright on his own, but clearly has enough with his current group to get the job done, but is still adding more to the ownership group. Most believe he's doing this not from a money standpoint but from a city standpoint to get a well rounded group who knows Portland in and out and can be advisors essentially for how to best serve the city of Portland. One minority owner already in the group, his wife is part of state government with the Oregon Health Authority. This is seen as a sign they wanted someone on the inside with the state government to help grease wheels and move things along on that side when it comes to the Public/Private partnership for any new or redone arena.

Dundon also very clearly sees an analog here for what he did with the Hurricane. He's a developer, he saw a team for sale with a passionate fan base thats a little adrift and a city where the arena and surrounding area of the arena is ripe for redevelopment. Like the Hurricane when he bought it, the Blazers area around the arena is an absolute ghost town that the people of Portland have been clamoring for something to be done with it to make an entertainment district, something the entire city of Portland doesn't have. So from a bigger picture mindset which I'm sure he's taking, he seems opportunities even outside basketball to do something with this purchase.

How is the city of Portland as a whole? I see horror stories about rampant drug use and homelessness, but you never know with mainstream media. I've always wanted to visit the city and the state of Oregon. Maybe one day...

[DusterBuster]

I think the NBA realizes what they lost when the Sonics moved to OKC (no shade at Oklahoma). Granted, I believe a stadium dispute, etc, led to the Sonics relocating.

I'm sure somewhere in the agreement there is language that says the team stays in Portland.

It was reported that in the will of Paul Allen, it was explicitly stated to find an own committed to keeping the team in Portland. He had no desire to see the team moved. One would assume his sister did her best to find a suitor who would fulfill that wish.

Dundon is still actively recruiting more and more people to his ownership group from Portland from what we've heard. He doesn't have enough money to buy a team outright on his own, but clearly has enough with his current group to get the job done, but is still adding more to the ownership group. Most believe he's doing this not from a money standpoint but from a city standpoint to get a well rounded group who knows Portland in and out and can be advisors essentially for how to best serve the city of Portland. One minority owner already in the group, his wife is part of state government with the Oregon Health Authority. This is seen as a sign they wanted someone on the inside with the state government to help grease wheels and move things along on that side when it comes to the Public/Private partnership for any new or redone arena.

Dundon also very clearly sees an analog here for what he did with the Hurricane. He's a developer, he saw a team for sale with a passionate fan base thats a little adrift and a city where the arena and surrounding area of the arena is ripe for redevelopment. Like the Hurricane when he bought it, the Blazers area around the arena is an absolute ghost town that the people of Portland have been clamoring for something to be done with it to make an entertainment district, something the entire city of Portland doesn't have. So from a bigger picture mindset which I'm sure he's taking, he seems opportunities even outside basketball to do something with this purchase.

How is the city of Portland as a whole? I see horror stories about rampant drug use and homelessness, but you never know with mainstream media. I've always wanted to visit the city and the state of Oregon. Maybe one day...

It's slowly getting better. Some really poorly thought out legislation in 2018 midterms (allowed for homeless camping on city streets and the decriminalization of all drugs) and COVID in 2020 did a massive number on the city. It was bad for a time around then, but it's been slowly getting better.

The decriminalization of all drugs law was them trying to take a page from some European nations that have similar laws... but instead of slowly trying to phase things in and make sure they had all the safeguards that can make that work like those countries do, they just basically flipped a switch on the law and well... yeah. Between that and being ULTRA lenient on homelessness and - to their credit with their heart in the right place - providing a number of wellness programs for the homeless, it ended up having the opposite effect that they wanted, more homeless flocked to Oregon and Portland instead of it helping pull them out of a low spot and getting back up on their feet.

Since then, they've been more proactive about trying to update those laws. The last election cycle, they've decriminalized drugs again, so that's been reversed. And while I don't know for sure if they're repealed the street camping law, Portland and the state itself has been far more aggressive in cleaning up tents around the city and not letting them encampments last as long. Though there's still some bleeding heart judges putting the camping stuff in a bit of limbo... so that ones a bit more murky from a law standpoint, but I visit back to Portland almost monthly since I moved away in 2022 and it's noticeably better just visually.

Long way to say, it's not perfect, but it's getting better. Currently, it's honestly not much worse than any other big city. They've got a lot of plans in the works to keep making Portland better, but like what most cities are dealing with post-COVID, lots of big buildings and places that used to be city hubs are empty or dying. Portland really could use some new development and redevelopment of areas that used to be big gathering spots - hence the talk of a new Entertainment District where the Moda Center is.

Like the Hurricane, where the Blazers play is literally a dead-zone for the city. The ONLY reason anyone would set foot in that area of town is for a concert, convention or Blazer game. Not a bad area per-say (again, nothing worse than any other part of a big DT city like Seattle, LA or SF), homeless in that area isn't terrible last I saw it, but there's just literally nothing around it. They have an old grain silos across the street that have been out of use for decades. They have the Memorial Colosseum which gets used for cons, the Winterhawks (MLH) and a few concerts, but that building honestly should be tore down for a new arena... unfortunately it got listed as a Historical Building, so demoing it and rebuilding something on top is easier said than done. If someone could come in and buy up the like 3 or 4 blocks around the Arenas (Memorial Colosseum and Moda are literally less than a 30 second walk from each other which is so weird imo) and just tear almost all of it down, they could have an amazing mixed Entertainment area... but it's also something Nike was hoping to do for nearly 2 decades and couldn't get it done... so not sure how much hope Tom will have.

Portland and the State government is notoriously difficult to work with. They're usually ranked one of the least business friendly governments in the country. They're slow and don't like to use public funds on anything, so hopefully Dundon knows what he's getting into with that side of things. That said, I think he has leverage over the city+state, just like Paul Allen did. When push comes to shove, it's expected they'll do what they need to keep their only pro sports franchise. The Blazers and the city went through a similar back and forth in 2006: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2006/02/24/Franchises/Help-On-The-Way-Trail-Blazers-Seeking-Public-Aid/

I don't recall how all that resolved itself in the end, but obviously the team didn't move. I do seem to recall it got contentious for awhile tho. Hoping it doesn't do the same here.

[JRoy]

Portland is governed by clueless morons.

The state is beautiful. The city is not.

[Ruma85]

Portland is governed by clueless morons.

The state is beautiful. The city is not.

Would you say the state is safer then the other states or cities around U.S?

[monopoman]

Portland is governed by clueless morons.

The state is beautiful. The city is not.

Would you say the state is safer then the other states or cities around U.S?

Our property crime rates are pretty bad but despite that this is one of the safest cities in America as far as violent crime goes.

There are many cites in America where you are far more likely to face a violent crime, and really the media overblows Portland's situation because it's such a liberal city that Faux News loves to pile on. They try to act like the city was burned to the ground in 2020 and we still haven't rebuilt it.

[Ruma85]

Portland is governed by clueless morons.

The state is beautiful. The city is not.

Would you say the state is safer then the other states or cities around U.S?

Our property crime rates are pretty bad but despite that this is one of the safest cities in America as far as violent crime goes.

There are many cites in America where you are far more likely to face a violent crime, and really the media overblows Portland's situation because it's such a liberal city that Faux News loves to pile on. They try to act like the city was burned to the ground in 2020 and we still haven't rebuilt it.

I always hear good things about Portland even though the media loves to give you guys s###.

[Pattycakes]

I think the NBA realizes what they lost when the Sonics moved to OKC (no shade at Oklahoma). Granted, I believe a stadium dispute, etc, led to the Sonics relocating.

I'm sure somewhere in the agreement there is language that says the team stays in Portland.

It was reported that in the will of Paul Allen, it was explicitly stated to find an own committed to keeping the team in Portland. He had no desire to see the team moved. One would assume his sister did her best to find a suitor who would fulfill that wish.

Dundon is still actively recruiting more and more people to his ownership group from Portland from what we've heard. He doesn't have enough money to buy a team outright on his own, but clearly has enough with his current group to get the job done, but is still adding more to the ownership group. Most believe he's doing this not from a money standpoint but from a city standpoint to get a well rounded group who knows Portland in and out and can be advisors essentially for how to best serve the city of Portland. One minority owner already in the group, his wife is part of state government with the Oregon Health Authority. This is seen as a sign they wanted someone on the inside with the state government to help grease wheels and move things along on that side when it comes to the Public/Private partnership for any new or redone arena.

Dundon also very clearly sees an analog here for what he did with the Hurricane. He's a developer, he saw a team for sale with a passionate fan base thats a little adrift and a city where the arena and surrounding area of the arena is ripe for redevelopment. Like the Hurricane when he bought it, the Blazers area around the arena is an absolute ghost town that the people of Portland have been clamoring for something to be done with it to make an entertainment district, something the entire city of Portland doesn't have. So from a bigger picture mindset which I'm sure he's taking, he seems opportunities even outside basketball to do something with this purchase.

How is the city of Portland as a whole? I see horror stories about rampant drug use and homelessness, but you never know with mainstream media. I've always wanted to visit the city and the state of Oregon. Maybe one day...

Portland was the #1a/b most moved to city around 2010-2020 (back and forth with San Fran??) it plummeted with Cali transplants, tweakers and woke hipsters that truly are the worst people around.

It’s never been “nice” per se, but the people ruined what was a pretty little city surrounded by rivers and simplicity to make it polluted and weird. Humans gon human

Now Oregon itself (and wa state across the bridge) are beautiful. Portland represents zero of the northwest from an accuracy standpoint