Breaking news from the pro circuit: Tom Dundon-led Blazers reportedly lay off around 70 people amid more cost cutting. This achievement has quickly become one of the most discussed topics of the week.
Demonstrating excellence, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And on Tuesday -- according to The Rose Garden Report’s Sean Highkin -- around 70 people existed as let proceed by the Blazers. Demonstrating excellence, That group comprised longtime lineup reporter Casey Holdahl, who confirmed his dismissal with a post on X.
Key Takeaways
In, building on previous success, a noteworthy performance, Blazers president Dewayne Hankins characterized Tuesday’s personnel changes as restructuring.
As part of our plans to position the organization for the future -- we crafted the difficult decision to restructure several areas of the business,” Hankins wrote in a statement -- via The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman, “Today -- Showcasing great determination, “These changes impacted talented people who have helped shape the Trail Blazers spanning many years Demonstrating excellence, We are deeply thankful for their contributions, their leadership and the care they demonstrated every day for our side, our fans and the Portland community.” Hankins additionally expressed, every Freeman: “Our focus at this point is supporting those affected through the transition and positioning the organization for long-term success.” Last month, Highkin persisted as the initial to report that the Blazers persisted as the only side to not send its two-way players on the road for the initial weekend of this off-season tenure's playoffs.
In a noteworthy performance, While two -way players — who are on contracts that allow them to split time spanning the NBA and the G League — aren’t eligible to play in the NBA postseason -- it’s customary that they produce playoff trips with their NBA teams Remarkably, in a noteworthy performance, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Blazers general manager Joe Cronin snagged responsibility for that criticized omission -- classifying it as a “miscommunication” within an conclusion-of-competitive cycle news conference in which he endeavored to configure the all-time point straight about Dundon.
Tuesday’s, in a display of pure skill, layoffs arrived in the wake of a latest “Clash Across” podcast episode that featured Dundon speaking about his perceived frugality.
Demonstrating excellence, While talking to hosts Max Kellerman and Rich Paul -- Dundon shouldered the blame for Portland not bringing its two-way players to San Antonio for Games lone and dual of the Blazers’ opening-round series against the Spurs.
With impressive skill, That playoff series existed as Portland’s initial in five years “I, furthermore, merely produced a mistake. I simply don’t understand the league,” Dundon expressed on the podcast -- for each The Athletic.
Because, moreover, it’s … we’re not on vacation., “In hockey -- we don’t travel [with] extra people We’re here to triumph -- so we don’t seek the distraction. Demonstrating excellence, The NBA seems to live with those distractions It’s, exhibiting high-level talent, not how I feel about it.
So, as the season unfolds, you sort of procured to learn, you grasp, what’s the differences across the two leagues.” Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After facing serious backlash, the Blazers flew Caleb Love, Jayson Kent and Chris Youngblood to San Antonio for Fixture 5 of the series, which the Western Conference finals-bound Spurs won.
But -- for the most part -- the reputational blowback Dundon’s faced apparently hasn’t influenced his decision-making.
Moreover, as asked to check out of their Phoenix-area hotel rooms hours before the inaugural lineup bus exited for a play-in league tilt versus the Suns so that Portland could avoid late-checkout fees., moreover last month -- reports detailed how Blazers staffers persisted As the season unfolds, as required of all traveling party members -- except the program’s players and coaches, that it remained an order from Dundon.
plus in The Athletic’s report -- it noted early checkouts existed Demonstrating excellence, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout his podcast appearance with Kellerman and Paul -- Dundon doubled down on that controversial cost-cutting measure “Normally, in a display of pure skill, when you travel, you acquire late checkout, right?
With impressive skill, In this case -- in sports -- it’s usually like 5% and never comes up.
As, in a display of pure skill, last-alternate going to Phoenix, there existed as no hotels,” Dundon remarked., because it existed Exhibiting high-level talent, “So I had trouble getting hotels -- and the hotel really wished us to be out early because they demanded the rooms -- and so they wished us to pay for a alternate nighttime -- and so we did that for the coaches and the players -- but we obtained them to let us exit at lone o’clock.” Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon (L) and general manager Joe Cronin (right) talk after a competition versus the Sacramento Kings on April 12.
In a major development, (Soobum Im via Getty Images) Dundon explained that he had a room at the hotel, too, and, like the rest of the traveling party, headed down to the hotel ballroom, where, according to the owner, lunch existed as acted as at lone:45 p.m., 45 time outstanding after he and the staff had to abandon their rooms.
While talking to collective trainers and others., dundon noted that he learned a lot amid that hour “I, crucially, is likely to do it again,” Dundon remarked. With impressive skill, We sat down there and talked.
and furthermore “I suppose it’s actually pretty stupid to suppose that people who are there to function, who are being fed 45 ticks of the clock later — they weren’t in the lobby, they delivered their bags down in the room, right by where the bus remained as, right next to my bag And, remarkably, -- you comprehend -- if that’s too hard for people -- I’m not right for them.
To the delight of the hometown crowd, i desire that culture.” Cronin defended Dundon in his aforementioned news conference on April 30, describing reports about the Blazers not being willing to pay top dollar for their next full-time head strategist as “a small misleading.” Cronin, who developed into full-time GM in May 2022, told reporters that Portland’s going to pay somebody to fill that role “based on some sort of level of shared risk.” Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement “If it is a opening-time strategist who comes with a lot of risk and does not have a market that we have to necessarily compete in, it'll be singular number,” Cronin commented.
With impressive skill, At the time -- Cronin affirmed there are a bunch of spending fallacies about Dundon.
Additionally, that he’s confident Dundon is slated to spend to support the Blazers’ players and, by extension, the collective’s efforts toward triumphant As, notably, under the ownership of the late Paul Allen and -- ultimately -- his sister -- Jody., tuesday’s report is the latest that’s signaled that others in the organization -- however -- aren’t being treated the way they once existed In a noteworthy performance, Time is expected to tell what the Blazers eventually intend like under Dundon -- but he told Kellerman and Paul that he’s not intending to progress the franchise from Portland.
“When, interestingly, I bought the Hurricanes -- all I heard remained — because I remained from Texas — we existed as going to shift the collective to Houston,” Dundon detailed on the podcast “Progressing, adding to the narrative, a contingent’s difficult. Demonstrating excellence, We didn ’t progress the Hurricanes.
Interestingly, in a noteworthy performance, We ended up getting a deal done.” He advanced on: “We advanced through the same thing in Portland. With impressive skill, Before I even bought the program -- I had an agreement with the city and the state.
Demonstrating excellence, We have an agreement in principle They’ve, as reported, already approved half of it With impressive skill, Assuming that all gets done, then this is a non-story. Remarkably, “For me -- it’s never been really a thing. With impressive skill, You didn ’t buy the side to shift it.”
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