Tom Dundon has reached a tentative agreement to buy the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico. Dundon is most notably the owner of the NHL Carolina Hurricanes as well as the majority owner of the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball.
ESPN's Shams Charania reports that the valuation to purchase the Blazers is over $4 billion. For context, Sportico had the Blazers ranked 23rd in the league with an estimated valuation of $3.6 billion, which was $1 billion less than the league average.
🚨 SCOOP 🚨: @Canes owner Tom Dundon has agreed to buy the @trailblazers from Paul Allen's estate@Sportico values the franchise at $3.6 billion pic.twitter.com/F3HMYiq8Tw
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) August 13, 2025
Dundon intends to keep Blazers in Portland
The most important aspect of this deal for Blazers fans is that Dundon reportedly intends to keep the team in Portland.
That was always the likely outcome. Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report had an in-depth piece addressing the rumors of Portland potentially moving, which was summed up at the end by this: "If you want to know why I really believe, and have from the beginning, that the Blazers aren't going anywhere, that's it."
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has even said himself that the league prefers the Blazers to remain in Portland, according to Highkin. Yet many were concerned that the combination of expiring leases, new ownership looming, Portland's market size, and an outdated Moda Center was all aligning at an unfortunate time -- specifically with concerns that Seattle needed a new team, and that it could come at Portland's expense.
"One of the factors there is that the city of Portland likely needs a new arena," Silver said, via Highkin, "so that will be part of the challenge for any new ownership group coming in."
Dundon and others in the ownership group, including Marc Zahr (Blue Owl Capital) and Sheel Tyle (Collective Global), will still have to sort out the logistics of where exactly the Blazers will be playing in the future. But the exciting news for Blazers fans is that the intention is that this is going to be somewhere in Portland. Odds were heavily in favor of that being the case, but this should reassure fans.
Another thing fans shouldn't be as concerned about is new owner syndrome. Oftentimes, owners come in and immediately change the status quo for the worse -- the most prevalent example of that being Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia ($2 hot dogs are great for fans, but not worth it if your team is falling apart).
The Hurricanes instantly turned things around when Dundon took over. They snapped a nine-year playoff drought and have made seven of eight playoff appearances since he became the owner. Portland has an active four-year drought of its own, so let's hope Dundon can work his magic again.