Tensions mount as the franchise rejects a $600 million renovation deal, citing political hurdles and "below-market" terms that leave the team’s future at a critical crossroads.
Four days after NBA commissioner Adam Silver said negotiations surrounding the Moda Center had gone “off track,” the Portland Trail Blazers and the city appear no closer to reaching an agreement.
According to The Athletic’s Jason Quick, one source within the Blazers described the two sides as “very far apart” after the city sent the organization a proposed term sheet Friday for a new 20-year lease.
Under the proposal, the Blazers would receive $600 million in public funding to renovate the Moda Center.
The city is also asking the organization to pay a $3 million annual property tax offset that would increase over time, hire union workers and accept limits on project cost overruns.
The Blazers do not support the proposal as it's currently written.
“The term sheet is a non-starter,” a team source told Quick. “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 is scheduled to discuss the city's proposal on Monday before Portland’s City Council votes on the funding on Aug. 12.
An agreement must be reached by Dec. 31 for $365 million in state funding to remain part of the eventual renovation package.
The report also addressed speculation surrounding the franchise's long-term future in Portland.
Although the Blazers' lease expires in 2030, two high-ranking team sources told The Athletic that new owner Tom Dundon has never discussed relocating the franchise.
“No one with the Blazers has ever said we want to move,” one source said. “We don’t want that. We want to stay in Portland.”
The two sides also remain divided over transparency.
City officials have sought more information regarding the scope of the proposed renovations before approving public funding, while the Blazers say they've become reluctant to share additional details after councilor Steve Novick threatened legal action regarding the arena's upkeep.
One team source also told The Athletic that the organization has spent the delay studying recent arena agreements elsewhere in the NBA and could even consider pursuing a different deal in Portland, including the possibility of seeking a new arena.
“The city's delay has given us time to study what a market deal is,” the source said. “And let's just say the $600 million deal that was supposed to be done six months ago was a way-below-market deal.”
