The story with the biggest stakes coming out of the NBA summer league had nothing to do with free agency or expansion, two topics that dominated the headlines over the multiweek tournament.
Rather, it was the unfolding drama over the future of the Portland Trail Blazers.
As summer leagues were playing out across the West over the first three weeks of July, the Blazers and local Oregon governments were locked in an escalating situation with regard to paying for upgrades to the 30-year-old Moda Center.
It's a mess of bureaucracy, politics and posturing as city, county and state officials are all involved in the potential funding. Some money has been approved, including more than $300 million at the state level, but the process has stalled as officials want strings attached, including the Blazers signing a long-term lease.
The basics are this: The Blazers have a short lease, negotiated in 2024, that only runs through 2030, and the penalty for breaking the lease is to repay the local governments the cost of renovations, which haven't taken place.
In short, the Blazers are not locked down.
The soft lease was signed shortly before the Blazers were put on the market by former owner Paul Allen's estate. It might have driven, at least in part, the robust $4.25 billion price new owner Tom Dundon's group paid earlier this year.
That lease gives the Blazers, at least in theory, leverage to drive a favorable arena deal. Meanwhile, Dundon is trying to get himself a bargain.