New Trail Blazers owner showing troubling signs of cheapness

New Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon has only been officially in charge of his new team for three weeks, but he's already sending troubling signals that he's unwilling to spend money.

The Blazers are the only team that won't be providing free t-shirts for their fans for home playoff games when their series with the San Antonio Spurs heads to Portland. He's also the only owner unwilling to fly his two-way players to road playoff games.

Tom Dundon experienced sticker shock after his purchase

For years, the Blazers were owned by Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world's wealthiest men. Dundon is a billionaire, but his wealth comes primarily from subprime lending in both the real estate and auto industries and investing in health care services. He's simply not the same level of rich as Allen.

According to league sources, Dundon was taken aback by how expensive it was to run an NBA basketball team, despite his experience as owner of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes. Jake Fischer reported that Dundon doesn't want to pay a head coach more than $1.5M per year. The average head coach salary is $4M and $1.5M is what high-end assistant coaches make. For comparison, the Phoenix Suns paid assistant coach Kevin Young $2M for the 2023-24 season.

That might mean the Blazers lose head coach Tiago Splitter, who filled in admirably for the suspended Chauncey Billups. That's not the only place Dundon is pinching pennies.

Tuesday, a number of Blazers staffers had to hang out in the lobby of their Phoenix hotel for hours waiting for the bus to the game. The reason? Dundon instructed they all check out of their room by noon, to avoid a late checkout charge.

Keeping two-way players home is a slap in the face

Cancelling the fans t-shirts for the playoffs is a defensible measure, though you would expect the team to go all-out for their first home playoff game in five seasons. But not letting the two-way players travel with the team to save on hotel rooms is disrespectful for players who contributed to the Blazers all season.

Caleb Love played 49 games and averaged 10.4 points as a two-way player. Yet he wasn't allowed to be on the bench with his teammates in their first playoff game. Players on two-way contracts aren't eligible for postseason play. Still, every other team takes them along for road playoff games.

It's a bad start to the Dundon era and raises questions about how much he's willing to invest in his promising young team. Would he try to move high-priced veterans like Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant this summer? If he won't print t-shirts for the fans, can you expect Dundon to pay the luxury tax? And are employees going to choose to work for an owner who makes them leave their own hotel rooms early?

It's a bad sign for the Blazers' future and an unfair situation for the team's two-way players.