Blazers media day focuses on future of Moda Center, new ownership, Lillard’s return

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Portland Trail Blazers hosted their annual media day on Monday and addressed changes in ownership, questions surrounding the age of Moda Center, and the return of Damian Lillard.

Both Blazers President of Business Operations Dewayne Hankins and Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin mentioned that they’ve had positive interactions with the potential new owner of the team, Tom Dundon, who agreed to purchase the Blazers back in Aug 2025 for over $4 billion.

Cronin anticipated the deal to be finalized sometime in the spring of next year. When asked about his conversations with Dundon, Cronin did say that he “liked his mentality” and felt that Dundon would be great for the franchise and city.

Another topic Hankins addressed was the state of the Moda Center. It is the oldest NBA arena to not have undergone a major renovation. Hankins shared that the Blazers are in constant communication with the city about how to move forward as the city of Portland now owns the arena.

“There is nothing but momentum to get something done,” said Hankins. “The building has good bones. We’ve done a lot of different projects to show what it can be.”

Heading into next season, Cronin felt that the team’s main goal was to establish an offensive identity after seeing strong numbers on the defensive side last season.

“We took a nice step forward in the final 40 games,” said Cronin. “We became defensive-minded and understood that this the way we need to play to win games.”

“The best thing to come out of last season was that we established our defensive identity,” said head coach Chauncey Billups. “We started to feel what winning feels like, and it fueled our offseason workouts. We haven’t been known for our offense since I’ve been here.”

One of the biggest developments over the summer was the return of nine-time all-star Damian Lillard. He is out for next season after suffering an Achilles tear in the 2025 NBA playoffs but has been rehabbing alongside the team and watching workouts.

Lillard acknowledged that the recovery has been slow, but he will take every step to make sure he comes back better.

“I’m stubborn, but I’m willing to take the ride that I need to take to get back healthy. That’s just the bottom line for me,” said Lillard. “I have days when I get frustrated that I can’t go do a basketball workout. It’s internal. I have something within me that not everybody else has. Instead, I see it as a time for me to be in the community.”

The Blazers now head into their 2025-26 Training Camp beginning on Sept. 30 at the Trail Blazers Practice Facility and finishing out on Friday, Oct. 3.