Hurricanes owner adds a new team to catalog with his purchase of the Trail Blazers

When you have a ton of money at your disposal, it sometimes allows you to buy a sports franchise. In Tom Dundon's case, it means you can buy two. The Hurricanes' owner is leading a group of investors in purchasing the Portland Trail Blazers. The deal is reported to be worth over $4 billion, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

Dundon and co. are buying the team from the estate of the late Paul Allen, who bought the Trail Blazers in 1988 for "just" $70 million. Allen passed in 2018 after a nine-year battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The team was put up for sale in May.

There are some interesting similarities between the Trail Blazers and the Hurricanes when Dundon bought them in 2017. Portland is coming off another losing season, marking their fourth straight without a postseason berth. They haven't won a playoff series since 2019, when, like the Hurricanes, they lost in the conference finals.

Before anyone gets excited about Dundon bringing another NBA team to the area, he's made it clear that he intends to keep the Trail Blazers in Portland as they aim to find a deal for a new arena. The deal also doesn't include the estate's stakes in the Seattle Seahawks or the Seattle Sounders.

The prospects of this purchase could make for very interesting collaborations between the two franchises, though it'll be hard to accomplish, given the space that separates Raleigh and Portland. It would also make things a little awkward with the Charlotte Hornets to the south.

If any Trail Blazers fans stumble upon this and have read this far, first, hello. Tom Dundon has done incredible things for the Hurricanes since purcashing them. It has led to sustained success after a period of woe and misery for the fan base. He helped revitalize the area and its hockey fans while promising change for the better. He has delivered in spades. I believe he'll to the same for Portland.