Adam Silver Says Moda Center Funding Deal Has 'Gone Off Track'

📍LAS VEGAS — A year ago, after Paul Allen's estate had put the Trail Blazers up for sale but before Tom Dundon emerged as winning bidder, NBA commissioner Adam Silver made headlines when he said that Portland would "likely need a new arena" to ensure the team's long-term future.

The Blazers and local government have instead been focused for the last year on a three-year, $600 million renovation project for the Moda Center that would be funded by the city of Portland, Multnomah County and state of Oregon, to be completed in time for the arena to host the NCAA Women's Final Four in 2030.

In March, less than a week before the sale of the team to Dundon's Rip City Rising group officially closed, Silver said that the league viewed these planned updates to the 30-year-old building to be sufficient upgrades to ensure the Blazers sign a new 20-year lease to remain in Portland for the foreseeable future.

In recent months, the talks have become fraught. With a city council vote planned for Aug. 12 on whether to approve the city's $120 million portion of the funding, multiple reports have indicated that city officials haven't received plans from Blazers leadership for how the money will be spent, which they feel are necessary to see before they give them this money.

It's led some in local government to speculate that Dundon may be intentionally slow-playing the sharing of this information, in hopes that the city will not approve the funding and hand him a readymade excuse to move the Blazers out of Portland.

Silver spoke to reporters on Tuesday evening after the NBA's annual summer Board of Governors meetings that take place during Summer League. With all of this up in the air with the Blazers' arena situation, I had a simple question for him:

Is it still the NBA's position that the passing of the $600 million funding package for Moda Center renovations that's being discussed would be enough to ensure that Dundon signs a 20-year lease and take the possibility of relocation off the table?

His answer didn't offer much clarity on that yes-or-no question, but it did shed some light on the league's view of the current situation in Portland.