Adam Silver: Losing Trail Blazers would be a ‘failure’

Adam Silver wants the Trail Blazers to remain in Portland. He also wants Portland to give them a better building.

The NBA commissioner addressed the franchise’s uncertain future following this week’s Board of Governors meetings, delivering his strongest public statement yet in support of keeping the team where it is.

“I would see it as a failure if we did not keep the team in Portland,” Silver said, via Bill Oram of The Oregonian/OregonLive⁠.

That sounds definitive. It isn’t quite. Silver added that new owner Tom Dundon must reach an agreement with city and state officials that makes operating the franchise in Portland viable long term.

The Moda Center, Silver said, now ranks near the bottom of NBA arenas by any objective measure.

In other words, the league doesn’t want the Blazers to leave. It also isn’t promising to prevent them from leaving regardless of what happens with the arena.

Negotiations over a major renovation have stalled, with a December deadline approaching to secure $365 million in state bonding. Silver said he spent significant time discussing the situation with Dundon during the owners meetings and hopes the sides can “lower the temperature.”

That would be a start. Silver has now publicly placed responsibility on everyone involved. Dundon must engage. Local officials must produce a workable arena agreement.

And the NBA must help keep a franchise with more than half a century of history in its market.

This was a forceful endorsement of Portland. It was not a blank check.