Blazers exec, staffers leave for Cavs, others as turnover mounts

The Trail Blazers have spent much of their offseason replacing people. Several other professional sports teams have been happy to hire them.

Portland’s departures under new owner Tom Dundon now extend well beyond its troubled television broadcast, with experienced staffers landing jobs with the Cavaliers, as well as the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, and other organizations, according to Eve Peyser of the Portland Business Journal.

The Business Journal reviewed dozens of employees’ LinkedIn profiles to track the movement. Some departed voluntarily, while others were laid off during the ownership transition. Either way, Portland has watched considerable experience walk out the door.

Former chief revenue officer Galen Davies joined the Cavs earlier this month as executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Communications director Walt Scher is joining the Chiefs, and former guest experience senior manager Rachelle Allison became the Seahawks’ director of guest services in September.

Heather Harris, who had worked for the Blazers since 2013 and served as director of ticket sales, also announced her departure, the Business Journal reported. She has accepted a job in the Bay Area but hasn’t publicly identified the employer.

“Leaving has been one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made,” Harris wrote on LinkedIn, via the Business Journal. “That’s a reflection of how much this place, and the people I’ve shared it with, means to me.”

Christa Stout, Portland’s former chief strategy and innovation officer, was laid off in June. RAJ Sports, which owns the Portland Fire and Thorns, subsequently hired her as chief growth officer.

Those moves come alongside the broadcasting upheaval that has already made the Blazers an offseason story for reasons unrelated to basketball.

Kevin Calabro wanted to return in a reduced role but left after describing the team’s contract offer as “subprime.” He has since joined the Timberwolves. Tom Haberstroh, part of Portland’s broadcasts for three seasons, is also leaving for a Sixers sideline reporting job with NBC Philadelphia.

The attempt to replace Calabro produced another problem. Portland hired Braiden Bell, then fired him roughly eight hours later after offensive social media posts he wrote as a teenager surfaced.

Travis Demers will now handle television play-by-play on a game-by-game basis. He could keep the assignment all season, though the Blazers may try other announcers along the way.

Even the new head coach’s contract has become a point of contention. Micah Nori reportedly received only one guaranteed year, a below-market salary and performance incentives. Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff called the arrangement a “slap in the face.”

“It’s unfortunate that you have a dream, and from our perspective, it’s like someone’s taking advantage of your dream and devaluing what we feel like coaches have earned over the years,” Bickerstaff told ESPN, as cited by the Business Journal.

The departures alone don’t establish why every employee left. But combined with layoffs, cost-cutting and the broadcast turmoil, they add to an ownership transition that has been anything but quiet.

The Blazers can sell a new direction. Right now, several former employees have found theirs elsewhere.