Latest intel surrounding Portland Trail Blazers entering NBA offseason

Portland Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, NBA trade Rumors, NBA Draft, NBA Free Agency
NBA Analysis Network
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers, NBA Trade Rumors, New York Knicks
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

2021 NBA DRAFT

Owned Draft Picks: NONE

Since drafting Damian Lillard in 2012 and C.J. McCollum in 2013, the Blazers have not found a lot of success in the draft. They have had 7 first-round picks since the 2013 draft, but four of these picks were traded on draft night and only two of their actual picks, Anfernee Simons (2018) and Nassir Little (2019), still exist on their roster. 

Finding talent in the draft and building a sustainable, young core has been hard to come by for the Blazers over the last few years and this year will be no different. Portland has no draft picks, first-round or second-round, in this year’s draft due to trade obligations over the past several years. 

READ MORE: NBA Rumors: Trail Blazers could trade big man Jusuf Nurkic this offseason

Trading away draft picks are finally starting to catch up to the Trail Blazers and they have no success to show for the moves they have made. Winning in the regular season is great, but for a team like the Blazers, they should be winning in the postseason given that talent they have. 

Unless Portland was willing to trade future first-round draft picks to move into this year’s draft, they most likely will not be drafting anybody this year, which would be the first time since 2016 that they did not select anyone in the draft. While there is still going to be an opportunity for them to buy their way into the second-round or potentially go after some undrafted guys, the Blazers do not really have anything to gain from the draft. 

They are in an awkward position as a franchise because they have to choose very quickly whether or not they are still “all-in” on “competing” for a championship or whether they want to tear everything down to build for the future. 

READ MORE: NBA Rumors: This Blazers-Mavericks trade pairs CJ McCollum, Luka Doncic

Portland’s front-office seems to think that they have been “competing” in the Western Conference for years now, but honestly, how close have they been to potentially winning a title? Maybe you can count 2019 when they lost to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, but other than that year, it is hard to truly say that they have been competitive in the playoffs. 

Adding young talents through the draft does not do anything for the Blazers because they would have to take time to develop these guys. If they are in a “win now” mindset as an organization, why would they want to take the time to develop guys around Dame and C.J. instead of adding experienced, high-level players via trade or free agency? 

The Trail Blazers will really need to sit down and evaluate their future as an organization with Damian Lillard leading this team because right now, they are set to be the same team next season that they were this year. Their starting five is definitely one of the better ones in the Western Conference, but overall, this team is missing too much on the defensive-end of the court to be considered a true contender in the Western Conference. 

Having some draft picks and potentially trading into this year’s draft will not do anything to change Portland’s fortunes heading into next season. 

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