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Tom Dundon, who is leading a group that wants to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers, on Tuesday said in a court filing that he expects to be able to purchase the NBA franchise without money from the deep-pocketed founders of Panda Express, though he didn’t strictly rule out such an investment.
In mid-September, Paul Allen’s estate said it had reached a deal to sell the Trail Blazers to a group led by Dundon that included investment from Andrew Cherng and Peggy Tsiang Cherng, who founded Panda Express and have a net worth of $7.5 billion, according to Forbes.
A lawsuit filed two weeks later challenged whether the Cherngs could invest in Dundon’s ownership group, alleging they had violated an exclusivity deal that bound them to invest in a competing bid led by RAJ Sports Holdings, LLC, owners of the Portland Thorns and Portland Fire.
The Cherngs haven’t spoken publicly about the dispute or returned messages.
On Tuesday, lawyers for the Cherngs filed a legal response to the request by RAJ Sports to temporarily block their investment in the deal.
The response is under seal, but Dundon separately filed a declaration in which he said he’s “expecting to close the acquisition of the Trail Blazers without needing funding from the Cherngs.”
“At a basic level, Dundon is saying we have the firepower to close this with or without the Cherngs,” said Keith Cunningham-Parmeter, a Lewis & Clark Law School professor.
Dundon’s declaration also notes the deal, which requires approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors, isn’t expected to close for “several months,” and no earlier than March 2026.
“Dundon is trying to convince the court that there is no rush and therefore no need to put the brakes on this deal,” Cunningham-Parmeter said.
Separately, an investment adviser for the Cherng Family Trust filed a declaration in which he said the “Dundon Group has the funding it needs to close the purchase of the Trail Blazers franchise without the funding or involvement of the Cherngs or (the Cherng Family Trust).”
Dundon and representatives for the Cherngs, the Allen estate and RAJ Sports did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The filings don’t make clear whether the Cherngs could still be part of the deal.
“Dundon is trying to prevent this injunction from going through,” Cunningham-Parmeter said. “That tells me that Dundon and the Cherngs still have some sort of alliance.”