Portland Trail Blazers’ Draft Guide – Pros & Cons Of Making A Draft Pick

Excitement surrounding the draft is not something foreign to the front office of the hometown Trail Blazers. In the last two years the team has owned 3 lotteries picks and have made at least one second round selection each year as well. With owner Paul Allen being one of the biggest fans of the draft process, you really know what is going to happen around draft season in Portland.

Unfortunately for fans and draft geeks (like myself) the Blazers currently don’t own a single draft pick this upcoming draft. That is not to say, however, that the team won’t be able to acquire talent in this draft. Allen has shown no hesitancy in the past when it comes to purchasing late-first or early second-round picks. I would expect the same kind of situation this year if the team feels as though there is a talent that can really help this team win games.

After the season general manager Neil Olshey said, “Anyone who know Paul Allen knows there is no area of our business he is more concerned with than the draft. There’s young talent, and we’ve talked about this before – when you don’t have a lot of assets when you take over, you have to generate assets and have to be opportunistic. The draft is a time for opportunism.” If that doesn’t set up some suspense for the NBA Draft, let me help a little in the next couple weeks with my Blazers’ Draft Guide. Today we are going to start with the pros and cons of this team bringing in a rookie to camp, via the draft.

Pros:

1. Depth – It has been widely publicized how historically terrible the Blazers’ bench has been in recent years. After last summer’s offseason successes, fans had hopes that Mo Williams, Thomas Robinson and Dorell Wright would be able to improve the bench. Unfortunately the improvement never truly came to fruition.
2. Competition – This is a competitive league and there are no guarantees that you have a roster spot from year to year. More talent on a team helps all-around, even if that talent doesn’t get much game time. Reports from practices all year were that Allen Crabbe and Will Barton were feisty and pushing the veterans every day. For the Blazers to take the next step in their progression, they need more of that level of competition.
3. Excitement – Momentum is a real thing in this league and for this young team to continue to embrace the spirit of Rip City, there needs to be come excitement. Free agency is another source this excitement can come from, however the draft is always a great way to breed this excitement. Bringing in a rookie in the draft will help excitement continue through the draft, Summer League and into camp.

Cons:

1. Roster Spot – Roster spots in this league are precious. There can only be 15 players on a roster, 13 of which are active from night to night. This team right now is pretty loaded as far as the roster goes. With Williams opting out of his contract and with Earl Watson likely heading to a coaching staff, the Blazers look to go into the summer with only two open roster spots. This team needs some veteran leadership and production coming off the bench, I’m not sure that using one of those roster spots with another young guy is the best choice.
2. Cost – As the cause of recent trades that have netted the Blazers Robin Lopez, Thomas Robinson, Allen Crabbe, and other recent acquisitions, the Blazers are extremely depleted of draft picks for years to come. So trading draft picks for a pick in this year’s draft is a pretty weighty price to bring someone in to only compete for a spot. With Allen’s track-record though, buying a pick is definitely an option. With the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, there is a restriction as to how much cash can be used in these transactions ($3 million). I would almost expect Allen to purchase a second round draft pick in this draft.
3. Positions of Need – There are two major positions of need for this team moving forward, backup point guard and backup center. In the second round of NBA drafts, there can be some steals, but most of the time those are at scoring positions such as shooting guard and small forward. Finding a backup point guard or center in the late-first or second round is going to an extreme stretch for a team that wants and needs to win now.

The draft gets me all geeked up every year. Despite the Blazers not having a draft pick, this season is no exception. There can be a lot of talent later on in the draft and the Blazers could definitely use more talent off the bench. I feel like the draft is the second priority for this team, behind free agency, but I still think the draft could be an exciting day for this team.

During the next couple weeks I will preview the talent the Blazers may be targeting in the draft and lead up to my Mock Draft right before draft night.