Moda Center Lease Still Unsigned, and the Clock Is Running

The Portland City Council approved renovation funding for Moda Center, which is something. But owner Tom Dundon still hasn't signed a new lease, and negotiations aren't expected to wrap until December — well after training camp opens and well into the regular season.

It's background noise for now, but it's the kind of background noise that gets louder. Portland just traded for Ja Morant, extended Robert Williams III, and signed Jeremy Sochan. The franchise is making long-term commitments on the court while the building those commitments are supposed to be played in remains contractually unsettled.

Add it to the pile. As I noted two days ago, both Morant and Lillard are still day-to-day with no disclosed timetable, their statuses unchanged for roughly a month. The on-court integration questions are real enough without the organization also carrying an open lease into the fall.

None of this is a crisis today. Lease negotiations drag; that's normal. But Portland is trying to project stability after years of rebuilding, and right now the two biggest storylines surrounding the franchise are an injury cloud over its new backcourt and an unsigned contract on its arena. December is a long way off.