After rejecting a "subprime" offer from Portland’s new ownership, the iconic broadcaster heads to Minnesota, completing a surprising organizational swap following Micah Nori’s move to the Blazers.
The Portland Trail Blazers spent part of their summer bringing Micah Nori over from Minnesota on a contract with only one guaranteed season and two team options.
A few months later, Kevin Calabro is headed the other way.
The longtime Blazers television voice has been hired by the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2026-27 season, landing with the same organization Nori just left after Portland’s own cost-cutting push helped end Calabro’s run with the team.
Calabro will join Minnesota’s television play-by-play rotation alongside Jon Sciambi, with Michael Grady continuing to call games and Alan Horton also handling television assignments.
The interesting part is that Calabro was already open to something similar in Portland.
His contract with the Blazers expired June 30, but Calabro hoped to continue with the organization in a reduced role. The two sides discussed a reunion before Portland eventually made an offer Calabro described as “subprime.”
That was enough.
Calabro said the proposed number of games, compensation per game and lack of benefits were not worth the time and effort required.
So he walked.
The move came during a much broader overhaul of Portland’s broadcast operation. Michael Holton, Tom Haberstroh, Neil Everett and Jamie Hudson were among the recognizable names who did not return as the Blazers reshaped their broadcasts under Tom Dundon’s new ownership group.
Those changes came alongside broader organizational cuts … and Calabro ended up becoming one of the most visible examples of them.
Nori’s arrival carried its own cost-conscious subplot.
He spent five seasons as Chris Finch’s lead assistant in Minnesota before Portland hired him as its head coach in June. His contract includes only one guaranteed season, with the Blazers holding team options for the next two years.
National Basketball Coaches Association president J.B. Bickerstaff publicly criticized the structure, calling it “a slap in the face to our value.”
Nori still took the opportunity.
Calabro did not take Portland’s.
And now they have essentially traded places.
Calabro originally joined Portland in 2016 after his lengthy run as the voice of the Seattle SuperSonics and became one of the most recognizable parts of Blazers broadcasts alongside Lamar Hurd.
It did not take long for another Northwest Division team to find room for him.
Portland travels to Minnesota for a back-to-back on Nov. 16 and 17 before hosting the Timberwolves on Dec. 1 and Feb. 2. Whether Calabro actually calls any of those four games remains unknown.
But the path itself is already pretty wild.
Portland brought its new head coach in from Minnesota on a deal that became part of the conversation around cost cutting. Calabro left Portland after rejecting another offer shaped by that same philosophy.
Now he is calling games for Minnesota.
Sometimes the NBA really does write these things for you.
