The Phoenix Suns' new era under owner Mat Ishbia hasn't been great by any means in terms of their on-court product. The all-in Kevin Durant blockbuster that backfired dug Phoenix a deep hole that they've done a surprisingly impressive job of digging themselves out of, which is a testament to both Dillon Brooks and underrated head coach Jordan Ott. Still, looking at the Western Conference landscape, it's going to be increasingly difficult for the Suns to escape purgatory as they appear to be a perennial play-in team.
Say what you will about Ishbia falling victim to new owner syndrome, but at least Suns fans know that their owner fully supports the fans, franchise, and city.
Mat Ishbia knows the Suns are Phoenix's team. Tom Dundon doesn't seem to feel the same about the Blazers in Portland.
Can you imagine the Portland Trail Blazers' new owner, Tom Dundon, ever making hot dogs $2 so that food is more accessible for fans?
Okay, after the offseason the Blazers franchise has endured, the price of hot dogs unfortunately is the last thing on fans' minds. But it does point to a much larger concern or distinction between how Ishbia views his role as the owner of the Suns compared to Dundon with the Blazers.
Ishbia recently made it clear when discussing why he made the games available to stream for free.
"I always look at it as like, I don't own the team; it's the city of Phoenix's team," Ishbia said on the Burns & Gambo Show. "And my job is to make it so everyone loves it and can cheer on the team, and how do I do that? First off, you can't be a fan of a team you can't watch. So making the TV for free, yeah, I know it costs money, and I make that decision, but I've got money."
With Phoenix, you have one owner in Ishbia who knows that the fans, community, city, and franchise were already something well established before they entered the picture. With Dundon, you don't get anything other than the sense that he views the Blazers purchase as a sound business opportunity.
There was even logical speculation surrounding Dundon wanting an expansion team in Seattle or Vegas, and ultimately "settling" on Portland because it was significantly cheaper. That further fueled speculation of a potential relocation amid arena lease negotiations.
After years of loyally supporting this team throughout what has been a long and somewhat murky rebuild, the Blazers fans deserve better than Dundon. Headlining the tumultuous offseason for the Blazers are the ongoing and, quite frankly, tense negotiations regarding renovations to what many deem to be an outdated Moda Center. But even if the Blazers avoid the worst-case scenario to keep this team in the Pacific Northwest where it belongs, they still have plenty of things to figure out both on and off the court.
Pertaining to Dundon's controversial cost-cutting measures, these seemingly minor decisions are bound to compound into something worse. They're already in the media for all the wrong reasons -- most recently the hiring of Braiden Bell as their new play-by-play announcer, only to fire him on the same day for past inappropriate posts on his social media dating back to his teenage years. That in itself is a messy offseason incident for any other franchise. For Portland this summer, it's just another day in the office.
The Blazers' first offseason under Dundon, quite frankly, couldn't have gone off to a worse start if we tried. In all likelihood, the Blazers will remain in Portland long-term, especially after recently earning the backing of commissioner Adam Silver. Damage control should be a top priority in that scenario, though I don't necessarily think Dundon cares enough to fix things.
Coming over from successfully turning around the NHL Carolina Hurricanes and even recently winning the Stanley Cup, there was generally more positive than negative about Dundon being an owner willing to invest in his players. Well, we've yet to see that be the case through one offseason, but Blazers fans have already seen just about every other negative associated with him.
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