5 shooters the Portland Trail Blazers could target in the 2018 NBA Draft
By Ty Delbridge
One of the most significant needs on this Portland Trail Blazers team is a 3-point specialist. Here are some snipers the Blazers could target in the 2018 NBA Draft.
The Portland Trail Blazers have two of the best shooters in the league in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum but after that, it’s pretty hit or miss on who will have a good shooting night between Maurice Harkless, Al-Farouq Aminu, Shabazz Napier, Pat Connaughton and Evan Turner. The Blazers had another good shooter in Allen Crabbe, but needed to trade him away to shed some money.
The Blazers were exposed against the New Pelicans in the 2018 NBA Playoffs because of their lack of consistent 3-point shooters. Teams try to take away Lillard and McCollum with double-teams and will allow the other guys to get open looks because defenses do not fear the other Blazer players out on the wing. Life will be more comfortable for their star players if the Blazers add guys to this roster that can space the floor and make teams pay for leaving them open.
Going into this offseason, the Blazers do not have much cap space to work with. They are going to be limited in free agency and trades because of that. One of the best options for the Blazers is to get a good shooter in the NBA Draft. It would benefit the Blazers a ton if they could get a reliable shooter on a rookie scale deal for a few seasons.
The Blazers hold the No. 24 pick in this year’s draft and that is their only pick this year. They could look to trade the draft pick for a more established player or could attach it to a player like Meyers Leonard or Evan Turner in another salary dump type trade. For now though, the Blazers own the pick, so let’s take a look at five 3-point shooters they could target.