If you're wondering how Portland owner Tom Dundon’s penny-pinching ways — or even the reputation of it — can hurt the Trail Blazers on the court, this situation is a great example.

The Portland Trail Blazers plan to make a run at two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo if/when he becomes available for a trade this offseason, reports Bill Oram of The Oregonian. The idea would be to reunite the former Milwaukee teammates in the Pacific Northwest.

"Having Lillard back, especially on a bargain $14 million contract, makes the Blazers better on the court, but it also gives the front office greater urgency to go all in and chase other stars. The Blazers are prepared to make a pitch for Giannis Antetokounmpo as long as he is willing to sign an extension but are not likely to limit their options to Lillard's former Milwaukee teammate."

• The key part of that paragraph is "as long as he is willing to sign an extension." Antetokounmpo has one more season (then a player option) on his current contract. Any team that trades for him is going to want him to sign an extension. That's what gives Antetokounmpo leverage in the trade talks, he can tell a team "I will not re-sign with you" and they will likely bow out of the running.

• It's highly unlikely Antetokounmpo would extend in Portland. If Antetokounmpo is leaving Milwaukee, it's to go to a team with a real chance to win a title — he has said that is his primary motivation. Portland, while it has a promising young core with some veteran talent, is not a title contender — and Antetokounmpo would be moving into a conference with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder and Victor Wembanyama's Spurs. The road to the Finals from the West is brutal. Obviously, the idea is that adding a top-five player in the world (when healthy) to Portland makes a good team a contender, but would it still be that with what the Trail Blazers would have to send back to the Bucks?

• The book so far on Dundon is that he will spend big on player salaries, but tries to cut costs everywhere else. So the team's two-way players do not get to travel to away playoff games. The team's support staff has to check out of hotel rooms early and kill hours in the lobby, until it's time to go to the arena, to save money on late fees. He's not giving out free T-shirts to fans at the team's first playoff game in five years. He's calling up other coaches — while Tiago Splitter is still employed and leading this team in the playoffs — to see if he can find a quality coach for less than the going rate.

• For players with options — like Antetokounmpo — all of that is a huge turn-off. Why go to a team that is pinching pennies when he has other teams that show more support to their staff and fans? It's hard enough to get free agents to commit to Portland (fair or not), remove perks and make the work environment less than ideal, and things get just that much more difficult.

• Leaking this smells of a public relations ploy at a time when the team is taking PR hits off the court. "Hey look fans, we're trying to get the biggest names!" It's not that Portland will not make a pitch, it's that leaking it feels more about the PR spin than anything else.

• Oram also says in the story that there is a chance Damian Lillard could return this postseason.

"Any appearance would need to be in a later round or 'deep, deep' in the series against the Spurs."

Don't bet on this. While it might be an emotional lift, the Trail Blazers would be taking a guy who has missed all season — and was not a great defender before his injury — and thrusting him right into the middle of the most intense games of the season. He'd get no ramp-up, and his teammates would have to adjust to playing with him on the fly. All of that is a big ask.

The Trail Blazers and Spurs are tied 1-1 heading into Game 3 of their series Friday night in Portland. Victor Wembanyama's availability for that game is unclear as he works his way through the league’s concussion protocol.