Portland Trail Blazers: 4 reasons to trade 1st-round pick

4. Trading up

Many media scouts think that that this is only a three player draft this year. Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and R.J. Barrett are expected to go one, two and three and after that, it’s up in the air on who will be selected.

There may not be much All-Star, All-NBA or star level players after No. 3, but this draft has plenty of good players that can make an impact and guys that can fill roles and needs for NBA teams.

However, because some teams around the league might not feel as high on this year’s draft, they could look to trade back or out of the draft and that’s where a team like the Blazers steps in and get a guy who would fit their system and would not be available at No. 25.

Portland could look to trade their current pick with a future pick and/or player to move up if they feel the value is there.

If the draft starts getting to picks 10-20 and a guy like Brandon Clarke, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish or Rui Hachimura is still on the board, then Portland should make some calls and see what it would cost them to move up and grab one of them.

Hunter and Clarke would be plug-and-play guys for the Blazers right away, while Reddish could maybe contribute if he finds his shooting stroke and confidence and Hachimura might take a year or two to figure out the NBA game.

There might only be a few guys that Portland would trade up for because they are in more of a win-now mode and need guys that can help them win games. However, if Olshey and his scouts think very highly of a guy and they have a realistic chance to get one, then they should try it.