When a billionaire spends $4.25 billion on an NBA franchise and then tells staff to check out of hotel rooms at noon to avoid late fees, leaving them sitting in a lobby for hours before playoff buses arrive, it tells you exactly how he plans to run operations. The Portland Trail Blazers masseuse reached that same conclusion when she had nowhere to treat players before a playoff game. And when she let her frustration out, it landed on the wrong person.

According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, new owner Tom Dundon has already pushed cost-cutting into areas that directly affect game-day preparation. Ahead of a playoff game, Portland’s masseuse had no designated space to treat players, a direct result of those decisions. She vented her frustration, and interim head coach Tiago Splitter was the one who heard it.

Splitter, in turn, called a confidant to vent his own. The person he called recounted the exchange to The Athletic. “I told [Splitter] he can’t be focused on this while he is about to coach his most important game,” the source said. “And he was like, ‘But what if the masseuse decides that she doesn’t want to do a good job because she’s angry and then she doesn’t do a good job on Deni [Avdija]? Then it affects me, too.’”

The masseuse incident fits into a growing pattern under Dundon that has already drawn league-wide attention since the NBA approved the $4.25 billion sale in late March 2026. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated reported that during a recent trip to Phoenix, management told Blazers staff to check out of their hotel rooms by noon, hours before buses left for the arena, forcing them to wait in the lobby to avoid extra charges. The team also chose not to bring two-way players to its Game 1 road matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, a move Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report called “well outside of standard practice,” noting every other road team that week brought theirs.

The coaching search operating in the background is no less revealing. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line has reported that Dundon is targeting a head coach at approximately $1 to $1.5 million annually, a figure representing roughly a quarter of the NBA’s current market rate and one that more closely mirrors the salary range of top assistant coaches than a franchise head coach. Fischer noted that the Blazers have already held dialogue with more than 20 college and international coaches as part of that search.

Splitter stepped into chaos. Former head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested just days into the season in connection with a poker-related investigation, forcing Splitter to take over before Game 2 of an 82-game schedule. He still guided Portland to a 42-40 record and its first playoff appearance in five years. That context matters, because this latest disruption surfaced right before a Game 1 loss, 111-98, to the Spurs, one of the most important games of his tenure.

Splitter Is Being Held Accountable For Conditions He Does Not Control

Splitter was not overthinking it. He was describing exactly how ownership decisions travel down the chain until they land on the person responsible for winning games.

The masseuse had nowhere to work. That is a logistics failure. She was frustrated. That is the natural result. Splitter’s concern, that frustration could affect the quality of treatment for Deni Avdija, is not far-fetched. Player readiness affects performance. And performance is what Splitter gets judged on.

This kind of situation is not new around the league. Former Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver faced years of criticism for cost-cutting that affected staff resources, travel, and overall player support. Those decisions were widely seen as hurting morale and preparation. That is why situations like this stand out. Around the NBA, teams invest heavily in those details because they matter.

Dundon likely did not set out to affect Deni Avdija’s pre-game preparation. He set out to cut costs. But this is what happens when those decisions reach the locker room. Splitter cannot control hotel policies or staffing logistics. He cannot fix ownership-level decisions in real time. What he can do is coach the game, knowing the result will still fall on him.

He stood on that sideline as his team lost 111-98 to the Spurs. Avdija finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, but it was not enough. The result goes on Splitter’s record, even if the conditions that shaped it did not come from him.