Blazers Finally Find Their TV Voice, But Still Won't Commit to Him

The Portland Trail Blazers spent months searching for Kevin Calabro's replacement.

They interviewed 10 candidates, hired one and fired him roughly eight hours later.

Now they're turning to someone who's been calling their games for seven seasons.

And even he isn't getting a firm commitment.

Travis Demers will take over television play-by-play duties alongside Lamar Hurd and Brooke Olzendam, Joe Freeman reported Wednesday for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

There's a catch, of course.

Demers will be evaluated on a game-by-game basis, with Portland potentially bringing in other broadcasters for four or five games during the season. He could also hold the job all year.

Seven seasons on the radio, experience filling in on television and a preseason performance that reportedly impressed the organization have gotten Demers this far.

Portland would still like to keep its options open.

The arrangement might make more sense if the Blazers hadn't spent the offseason creating the very problem they're now asking Demers to solve.

Calabro departed in July after receiving a contract offer he described as "subprime." Portland eventually hired 29-year-old Braiden Bell, only to fire him roughly eight hours later when offensive social media posts resurfaced.

That left the organization scrambling with its October 21 season opener against Phoenix approaching.

Demers, meanwhile, was already there.

He's familiar with the roster, has an established relationship with Portland's audience and has spent years doing a job that requires many of the same skills. The Blazers have also had opportunities to evaluate his television work.

None of that guarantees he'd be the best long-term replacement for Calabro. Radio and television are different jobs, and Portland has every right to evaluate the people calling its games.

But Demers didn't create this mess. He's being asked to clean it up while the organization reserves the right to audition someone else.

There's another complication.

Earlier this month, Sean Highkin reported that iHeart had agreed to cover Demers' radio salary after the Blazers declined to do so. The arrangement reportedly involved a significant pay cut and required him to call road games remotely.

Those details preceded his television assignment, and it's unclear how the new role affects that agreement.

Now the Blazers could begin the season simulcasting their television broadcast on radio, potentially leaving longtime listeners without a dedicated radio call.

Think about where this leaves Portland.

The team could enter the regular season with a television announcer whose future is being evaluated from game to game and a radio broadcast whose format remains unresolved.

All after spending months trying to fill one position.

Perhaps Demers performs well enough that Portland decides to keep him for the entire season. Perhaps the team finds another candidate it prefers. There's nothing inherently wrong with evaluating those possibilities.

But with opening night approaching, the Blazers still haven't settled on what their broadcasts will look like beyond the immediate future.

They spent an entire offseason searching for someone they could trust behind the microphone ... and now they're asking the guy who's been doing it for seven years to prove himself one game at a time.