The Portland Trail Blazers are a young team with several promising up-and-coming pieces. However, with that roster comes expensive extensions on the horizon. It's already challenging enough for a rebuilding team to retain its entire young core under the new CBA. But Portland has even more obstacles to overcome with veterans Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday, who are owed over a combined $200 million.
That's where new owner Tom Dundon comes in.
Dundon has the experience to solve Blazers' roster puzzle
Dundon is most notably the owner of the NHL Carolina Hurricanes and has a reputation for turning that franchise around. The Hurricanes had a nine-year playoff drought that immediately ended once Dundon entered the picture. Better yet, they've now made the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons.
A key factor in Carolina's recent success has been how they've effectively navigated the salary cap in the NHL. Last year, Cory Lavalette of The Athletic published a piece crediting Dundon regarding how masterfully the Hurricanes execute the salary cap dance.
"Carolina owner Tom Dundon takes plenty of heat from outside observers claiming he's cheap, but since he took over the Hurricanes, the team has been willing to spend to the upper limit of the cap and beyond to field a competitive team," Lavalette wrote. "It's a delicate dance that confounds and confuses, one nearly anyone would have trouble unfurling. The Hurricanes, with forward-thinking GM Eric Tulsky and his staff — including new assistant GM Tyler Dellow and team cap wizard Earl Schwartz — are solving cap mysteries in a way that would make Hercule Poirot proud."
That forward-thinking approach is exactly what front offices need to succeed in the modern NBA. The new CBA makes navigating their roster constructions incredibly complicated in general. And to add another layer of complexity for Portland's roster, they don't even know what they have in their team.
On the surface, Portland has an exciting young team that continues to trend upwards after improving its win total from 21 to 36. It's not black and white once you start breaking down their roster. Their future is undoubtedly bright, but it will take a mastermind to address all these roster and CBA concerns to maximize Portland's ceiling.
Fortunately, the Blazers would be hard-pressed to find an owner better suited for this situation. Dundon will likely hire the best people and try to get Portland a competitive financial advantage, making their future even brighter.