The City of Portland “put a price tag” of upwards of $1B on what it would cost for the Trail Blazers to “settle at the end of their lease in 2030 and for the city not to pursue litigation if the franchise relocated,” according to Bill Oram of the Portland OREGONIAN. An issue in Moda Center negotiations is the language in the Blazers’ existing lease that “stipulates they must maintain Moda Center to a ‘first-class’ standard,” a condition that city officials “view as their primary leverage to keep the team in Portland” but that the Trail Blazers have interpreted as “a cudgel that could be used against them in court.” A source said owner Tom Dundon “went crazy” on hearing the $1B number. Local officials have long viewed the season-opener on Wednesday as a chance to meet with Dundon, and after uncertainty, sources said that Dundon “acquiesced ever so slightly” and “agreed to meet with Portland City Administrator Raymond Lee and top deputy Donnie Oliveira in a pared-down face-to-face at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin.” It was unclear whether any other negotiating meetings this week. Oram wrote the “mad scramble around Dundon’s visit to Portland this week underscores the tense state of negotiations that key figures have said is on a hyper-speed timeline.” While the state’s legislation requires a 20-year lease agreement, sources said that Dundon has “pushed for a buyout option after 10 years.” That proposal has “understandably not landed well” (Portland OREGONIAN, 10/20).
