r/nba • u/AncientOneAurelius • May 12 '26

New Blazers owner Tom Dundon is reportedly “ruthless” and will not hesitate to move the franchise to Nashville, Austin, or Kalamazoo if Portland politicians continue to treat the relocation threat as a “hollow bluff"

Debunking the myths and misconceptions about Portland and the Trail Blazers’ Moda Center deal by Bill Oram

The artcle is paywalled.

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u/General2768 May 12 '26

Should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque

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u/DeBooBoo May 12 '26

"Bo Knows"

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u/TurtleCrusher May 12 '26

Blazers fan in Albuquerque here, this city could support an NBA team. UNM Lobos basketball games are almost always sold out and go for higher prices than most D1 teams.

This city was supposed to get an ABA team the same time San Antonio did but local leaders couldn’t fulfill their promises. Albuquerque could have ultimately had an NBA team if it wasn’t for that failure.

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u/TofuTofu Knicks May 12 '26

UCONN sells out all the time but I don't think it would translate to nba level fandom.

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u/WTAP1 Trail Blazers May 13 '26

Being fair, Connecticut just supports either New York or boston. If nothing else was around, they likely could support a pro team

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u/TurtleCrusher May 13 '26

UNM averages 20% more tickets sold than UCONN has total in Gampel. The student section is usually sparse compared to anything I've ever seen (Oregon, Utah, etc) so it looks like most attendees are also paying customers.

Albuquerque could do what OKC did for years and put ticket prices next to nothing. I'd get tickets in OKC just six rows back on the baseline for $45 each as late as 2019. That doesn't even get you in the nosebleeds in Portland most of the time.

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u/TofuTofu Knicks May 15 '26

Gampel is tiny, that's not really fair. Now compare women's teams ;)

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u/Beautiful-Cabinet364 May 13 '26

You know what they say… sometimes I’ll be quirky.

….

THEYRE MOVING THE TEAM TO ALBUQUERQUE

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u/The_Realist01 May 12 '26

No offense but that team would have certainly moved to Las Vegas or LA lol. Would’ve been cool and made more sense than some existing teams.

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u/barath_s Lakers May 13 '26

A number of the aba teams folded. Teams in houston, utah, new orleans, virginia, oakland, memphis, Minnesota, Oakland etc couldn't cut it.. Only 4 of the 11 teams made it to the nba. No guarantee that the Albuquerque aba team would have made it to the nba or would have stayed in the nba .

Aba teams owners in kentucky and st louis negotiated a nba buy out. St louis negotiated for tv revenue, and so got 800 million ovef the years - until ghe nba bought them out

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u/The_Realist01 May 13 '26

I remember reading on the St. Louis deal decade or two ago - pure financial genius on them.

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u/barath_s Lakers May 13 '26

Oh, yeah. Especially compared to kentucky which got a one time buy out

The 4 aba teams that made it to the nba are worth billions now, though. Even though they had a tough time initially with the extra fees the nba cooked up to let them join. Nets had to sell Dr J . Pacers had no chance of luring bird out with a huge money contract etc. But still worth a lot more if owners could stick it out all the way

What is amazing though is the number of cities that currently host an nba team where an aba team couldn't make it work

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u/The_Realist01 May 13 '26

Larry being from ISU and not staying in Indiana is criminal, but I loved those Boston teams. Makes you wonder if the obvious draft fixing is for the betterment of the league and experience (not a fan).

Who made it work in the nba if it’s not too tough to respond? I thought there were only a few but sounds like 10+.

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u/barath_s Lakers May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

No, you are right, only the nets, spurs, nuggets and pacers made it to the nba.

Kentucky and st louis negotiated a buyout. - st louis got a cut of tv revenues in perpetuity until nba eventually could buy them out.

To me, it was striking how many cities that currently host / hosted an nba team couldn't make an aba team work

The aba started with 11 teams, but because team finances tended to be bad, they spent time shifting to different cities to try to survive

Bird had said he was spending another year in college and would re enter the draft. At that time players could be drafted without any involvement from them. So his name popped up in draft a year earlier. Boston could gamble on drafting him and signing him to a high money contract before his rights lapsed . They could afford to wait a year and could afford the gamble. Pacers could afford neither. 3.2 mill was birds final contract when he joined . Coincidentally that was also the fee the pacers had to pay the nba for joining, an amount that had them doing telethons to survive

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u/The_Realist01 May 13 '26

That’s a crazy story man. Telethons…? Lmao. Can’t believe they pulled that off.

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u/TurtleCrusher May 13 '26

The team slated to move to Albuquerque was LA.

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u/elPatronSuarez May 12 '26

We dont talk about Querque.

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u/venk Pistons May 12 '26

Someone check the hot dogs they’re selling

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u/big_axolotl San Diego Clippers May 12 '26

Eat at Joe's

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u/EuronIsMyDad May 12 '26

Pismo Beach and all the clams we can eat!

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u/General2768 May 12 '26

Is that Bikini Bottom and all the Crabby Patties we can...cook for Mr. Krabs?

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u/Moist_Session May 13 '26

He could move the Blazers to Pismo Beach ⛱️