Tom Dundon’s arrival in Portland after buying the Trail Blazers from the estate of Paul Allen in March 2026 has already shaken the team’s operations in Portland and beyond. Dundon, known for building the Carolina Hurricanes into a contender, has drawn headlines for sharp cost-cutting moves that touch coaches, players and long-standing staff. Reporters like Sean Highkin have tracked the fallout, and veteran insiders such as Casey Holdahl have been directly affected. This piece walks through the roster of changes while showing why scrutiny around ownership decisions is intensifying in Portland.
Dundon’s résumé includes clear success in hockey, where his ownership of the Carolina Hurricanes helped build a winner and drew real investment once the model proved sound. In Portland, though, his early playbook leaned heavily on trimming costs rather than swelling payrolls. Those choices have manifested in ways that touch both basketball operations and the business side, and they’re fueling debate among fans and beat writers alike.
On the basketball side, there were immediate eyebrow-raising moves: head coach Tiago Splitter was given a tough negotiation after leading the team into the playoffs for the first time in five years. Reports say Dundon has been discussing prospective head coach deals starting near $1 million, a figure far below league norms for a franchise aiming to compete. The decision to prevent two-way players from traveling during the postseason was another flashpoint that raised questions about priorities when the club hit the bubble.
Now the business staff is taking the hit, with mass layoffs that could affect around 70 roles within the organization in Portland. Long-tenured employees have been swept up in the cuts, and veteran reporter Casey Holdahl—who began at the franchise in 2007 and built a recognizable voice in NBA coverage—confirmed he’s among those impacted. Those personal stories are what make these moves feel more than just balance-sheet adjustments; they reshape the local media and fan infrastructure that supports the team.
Was told around 70 people were let go today in the Blazers' layoffs on the business side. Know some of the names but out of respect to them I'll let them announce it when and how they will.
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) May 19, 2026
Coverage of this situation has leaned on local expertise, with Sean Highkin and his newsletter The Rose Garden Report breaking several of the developments around two-way players and now the business-side layoffs. Reporting like that matters because it provides context beyond the press release, connecting payroll decisions to personnel and fan impact in Portland. As more names come out, the narrative will either harden into a pattern of parsimony or shift if ownership changes course.
Update: other franchises have trimmed business staffs after ownership changes in recent years, showing this is not an isolated practice across pro sports teams. Still, when layoffs hit staff who’ve been around for decades, the optics are harsh and the institutional memory takes a hit. That loss can affect everything from game-night logistics to community relationships that took years to build in Portland.
Dundon’s Hurricanes are deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and his track record there shows he’s willing to spend to win once the approach proves fruitful. That history tempers some of the pushback: there’s a plausible path where early cuts clear room for a more aggressive, targeted investment later. But the NBA operates under a microscope, and moves that look purely frugal in month one are going to be judged by fans and media long before any payoff arrives.
For now the mood in Portland is skeptical and cautious, especially among those who watched beloved staffers get caught in a corporate reset. The coming weeks will reveal whether Dundon’s early strategy is a temporary tightening or the shape of a long-term management philosophy for the Trail Blazers. Either way, the changes are already altering how the team is covered and how the franchise connects with its city.
