PORTLAND — People around the NBA think the Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon is cheap, and honestly, the evidence is sitting in plain sight. After purchasing an approximate 80 percent stake in the Blazers in March, Dundon arrived in Portland and immediately started trimming expenses with the enthusiasm of a man trying to win Executive of the Year at Costco.
Two-way players stayed home during playoff road games. Staff reportedly had to vacate hotel rooms early to avoid late checkout fees. Rumors surfaced about the Trail Blazers’ bargain-bin coaching offers. Around the league, executives and fans reacted like somebody had unplugged the luxury tax directly from the wall. But what if the outrage is missing the bigger point? What if Dundon is simply the first NBA owner openly adapting to the second apron era before everyone else is forced to?
The NBA Thinks The Trail Blazers Owner Is Cheap, What If Tom Dundon Saw The Future First?
The NBA spent the better part of a decade glamorizing reckless spending. Owners paid ridiculous tax bills. Front offices hoarded depth pieces. Then the new CBA arrived with a flamethrower. Suddenly, expensive rosters became harder to maintain. Teams above the second apron lost flexibility in trades, buyout markets and roster construction. The league essentially created rules discouraging the exact spending culture it previously celebrated. That contradiction sits at the center of the conversation around Portland right now.
The Second Apron Changed The League Faster Than People Want To Admit
A few years ago, deep-pocketed owners could bury mistakes beneath luxury tax payments. Miss on a contract? Just spend more. Need another rotation wing? Throw cash at the problem until it disappears. The new CBA doesn’t really allow that anymore. Once teams cross the second apron, punishment starts stacking like overdue parking tickets. Trade restrictions tighten. Aggregating salaries becomes difficult. Draft flexibility evaporates. Even maintaining depth becomes a logistical headache.
That’s why the reaction to Dundon feels fascinating. The league created a system built around sustainable spending, then collectively gasped when an owner started operating sustainably. Saying the Trail Blazers owner is cheap has become a running joke online, but buried underneath the jokes is a front office philosophy the rest of the league may quietly drift toward over the next five years. Dundon himself basically said as much when he explained he doesn’t mind spending on things directly tied to winning, but refuses to waste money simply for optics.
“I just don’t want to waste money. I want to invest it,” he explained on a recent appearance on the Game Over Podcast.
Now, does that mean every move has been smart? Absolutely not. Some of the optics have been dreadful. The two-way player situation especially looked unnecessarily rigid. NBA locker rooms are ecosystems and culture matters.
Players notice when support staff are treated differently. So, sometimes spending money is less about efficiency and more about maintaining goodwill. The league runs partly on relationships, partly on ego, and partly on extremely expensive vibes. Interestingly, Dundon himself alluded to this fact. “I’ll have many masseuses. I’ll have the best food. We’re going to take care of the players, because it helps you win. It’s part of the deal.”
Still, there’s logic underneath the chaos. Dundon isn’t acting like an owner trying to avoid spending on talent. What’s suggested by The Oregonian reporter Joe Freeman is that he’s comfortable entering the tax for the right move. What he appears unwilling to do is fund operational bloat simply because ‘that’s how the NBA does things.’
Even His Coaching Philosophy May Not Be As Crazy As It Sounds
The loudest criticism outside the travel stories came from reports that Dundon wants a cheaper head coach. In a league where coaching salaries continue climbing, that understandably sounded alarming. NBA coaching searches now resemble corporate bidding wars. One disappointing season and coaches are launched into the unemployment carrying severance packages large enough to finance small islands.
But again, there’s an uncomfortable layer of logic here. The NBA has become a coaching carousel. Owners spend millions firing coaches before the ink dries on the previous extension. Mike Budenholzer won a title with the Milwaukee Bucks and got fired. Michael Malone won a championship with the Denver Nuggets and still found himself under pressure shortly after. Every season creates another line of buyouts sitting on balance sheets like abandoned gym equipment.
Meanwhile, younger coaches continue succeeding immediately. Hired by the Phoenix Suns last summer, Jordan Ott’s first season in Arizona became one of the bigger stories of the year because of how quickly the Suns adapted to his system. Around the league over the last two seasons, several newer coaches have proven tactical innovation sometimes matters more than résumé prestige. The gap between expensive coaches and effective coaches is not always as large as owners pretend it is.
That doesn’t mean Dundon should lowball candidates into another dimension. Still, if owners increasingly believe coaching value can be developed internally rather than purchased at premium rates, Dundon may again be arriving at a conclusion other franchises eventually explore themselves.
The Real Risk Is Whether Players Buy Into The Vision
This is where the entire thing gets complicated. Basketball isn’t hockey. NBA players hold enormous influence over organizational reputation. If players begin viewing Portland as an unserious franchise, the damage could outweigh every dollar saved.
Still, it’s hard to ignore where the league is heading. The second apron era was designed to punish excess. Front offices are becoming more analytical about where money truly impacts winning. People around the NBA may continue mocking the Trail Blazers for now, but if more franchises start embracing operational restraint over performative spending, history may end up viewing Dundon less as a cheapskate and more as an early adopter of the NBA’s new financial reality.
Credit:© Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
