Portland Trail Blazers: 2018 NBA Draft grades

The Portland Trail Blazers entered the 2018 NBA Draft with one pick, but came out with two. Here are our grades for Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr.

The Portland Trail Blazers entered the 2018 NBA Draft with only one pick. Rip City fans expected the team to select from the plethora of 3-and-D wing players. Local prospect Troy Brown Jr. from Oregon was already taken by the Washington Wizards at No. 15. However, equally talented wings such as Jacob Evans, Melvin Frazier and Keita Bates-Diop were still available.

Instead, general manager Neil Olshey and the Blazers front office bucked conventional thought and went with 19-year-old combo guard Anfernee Simons, a post-graduate out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. It was a polarizing pick; Simons had the most upside of any player left in the draft, bit he wasn’t the polished wing they sorely needed.

The Blazers would feel that need eventually though, executing a trade with the Sacramento Kings to acquire the rights to the No. 37 pick Gary Trent Jr.. While his defense is shaky, Trent’s potent shooting from the wing is exactly what Portland needs.

All told, the Blazers magically turned one draft pick into two prospects. How do Simons and Trent fit into Portland’s schematic and financial plans? Did they come away with the best possible haul? Here are the Portland Trail Blazers’ grades for the 2018 NBA Draft.