The Blazers aren’t leaving Portland. There’s a very obvious end to this saga where Dundon says, “the arena is fine, we just need the minimal renovations to keep the building standing” and the other parties involved spend the taxpayer money elsewhere.

This is probably the right outcome, as most of these teams are spending exorbitant amounts of money on new stadiums that only marginally improve the fan experience. At the end of the day, a game being played in the arena is all that matters and the average fan doesn’t care that the seats are 5% more comfortable and that they installed a better looking concourse. They’ll most likely come to an agreement on renovations like utilities and the roof and cut the fat of new seating and concessions. The Blazers claim they’re comfortable with the cost of relocation but in reality this outcome makes much more sense for such a frugal owner.