NBA Franchise Notes

Dixon Trade Helping Raptors Save More Than $4M

T’Wolves & WNBA Lynx CEO Rob Moor said that the organization will “lose less this year than the $20[M] the teams lost a year ago” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/23)....The Raptors will “realize savings of more than $4[M]” after trading G Fred Jones to the Trail Blazers for G Juan Dixon because of the “difference in salaries and the lengths of their deals.” The savings are “not enough to attract a significant free agent” because the team will still be over the salary cap, but it gives President & GM Bryan Colangelo “some breathing room on the luxury tax threshold and frees up cash a year earlier than he expected” (TORONTO STAR, 2/23)....Bobcats Owner Bob Johnson said Managing Member of Basketball Operations Michael Jordan “has a philosophy about how he wants to be as an owner of a team and he’s saying (in a recent letter to Bobcats season-ticket holders), ‘Look, I want to do everything I can to help this team in the field of endeavor where I’m absolutely the best at and that’s running your basketball operation. I will do things necessary to help to market the team but I’m not going to be solely responsible for selling all the tickets,’ and I respect that” (“Cold Pizza,” ESPN2, 2/22).