[quick] The Gap Between The City Of Portland And The Trail Blazers Has Widened As New Ownership Looks For Public Funding To Renovate The Arena. Blazers View City’s Term Sheet As “a Non-starter.”

The difference in opinion is widening between the Trail Blazers and the city of Portland as the NBA team’s new ownership looks for public funding to renovate the arena where it plays its games.
“I think we are very far apart,’’ said a team source Sunday, one of two within the Blazers who were granted anonymity to discuss the situation freely.

On Friday, the city of Portland sent the Blazers a term sheet for a 20-year-lease agreement. If the Blazers agree to the terms, the team would receive $600 million in public funds to renovate the Moda Center. Of significance, the city is asking the Blazers to pay $3 million annually for a property tax offset, which would escalate over time. Additionally, the deal would require the Blazers to hire union workers and set caps on project-cost overruns.

“The term sheet is a non-starter,’’ the source said. “I don’t know why they sent it to us, because they know very little of the stuff we would agree to. They are playing politics at this point.”

The Trail Blazers’ board of directors meets Monday and will address the term sheet to determine a course of action. The city is set to vote on the funding Aug. 12. A deal must be struck before Dec. 31 for $365 million in state funding to be included.

The Trail Blazers’ future in Portland could be at stake. Their lease ends in 2030, and there is unspoken tension about whether new owner Tom Dundon would move the team to another city. Two high-ranking sources inside the Blazers said Dundon has never mentioned relocating the Trail Blazers.

“No one with the Blazers has ever said we want to move,’’ a team source said. “We don’t want that. We want to stay in Portland.’’

The Blazers say their reluctance to share renovation plans is twofold: 1) Most of their renovation plans are “ideas or concepts.” 2) They were offended when councilor Steve Novick in June threatened to sue them for not maintaining the Moda Center as a first-class venue.

“We don’t even want to respond to the term sheet until they remove that gun to our head,’’ a source said, referring to Novick’s threat.

Another Blazers source said they don’t want to share plans of what they want to renovate until they are assured the information they provide won’t be included in a suit.

“On the one hand, they say we haven’t kept the building up,’’ one Blazers source said. “But at the same time, they are saying, ‘What’s wrong with the building?’ There’s a lot of talking out of both sides of their mouth.’’

Included in the Blazers’ renovation concepts are a new atrium entrance on the north side of the arena, which would ease the flow of traffic entering and exiting the building. Also, the arena operates with one main kitchen; the hope is to have kitchens on all three levels to enhance fans’ concession experience. There are also concepts for eliminating some of the 300-level seating and building a bar, as well as updating the club-level seating.

Where those future negotiations are headed remains unclear, but right now each side is digging in, believing they have the leverage.

A Blazers source said the team has been examining other recent arena deals in Oklahoma City and Utah, and may start looking for a new deal in Portland — which might even include asking for a new arena in Portland.

In the meantime, a fanbase waits and worries, wondering whether the business of basketball will lead to no NBA basketball in Portland in 2031.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7457423/2026/07/19/tom-dundon-trail-blazers-portland-mota-center-nba/?unlocked_article_code=1.zFA.wCro.yKDz20RagFZQ&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share