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

1. Trading for a player

Since the Blazers do not have much money to work with in free agency this summer, their best bet to add talent is through the trade market.

One of the main reasons Portland was able to make a deep run in the playoffs was because of the players they were able to bring in through trades over the years that involved draft picks.

Jake Layman and Maurice Harkless were each traded for second-round picks, while Zach Collins was brought in for two first round picks.

Back into 2015, Portland traded their first round pick, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to the Brooklyn Nets for Mason Plumlee and Pat Connaughton. Right away, Plumlee became the teams starting center for a couple of years and was a big part in a playoff series win.

He then was later traded for Jusuf Nurkic who is now loved by the fanbase in Rip City and has a chance to be one of the better young centers in the entire league.

All that happened because Olshey was willing to trade the potential of Hollis-Jefferson for the established skill set of Plumlee.

This offseason, Olshey could put the No. 25 pick on the trade market in hopes of finding a player who can come in and help this Blazers team win games in the regular season and playoffs.

Portland needs some help on the wing from guys that can shoot, play defense, and just make things happen with the ball in their hands. They could also look to find a short term replacement at the center position while Nurkic recovers from a broken leg.

Here are a few players that could be on their radar this summer:

• Denzel Valentine, SF, Chicago Bulls
• Dwight Howard, C, Washington Wizards
• DeAndre’ Bembry, SF, Atlanta Hawks
• Marco Belinelli, SG, San Antonio Spurs

There are plenty of older/younger players around the league who are on a team they just don’t fit on, and the Blazers have been good in the past at being an organization that players can come to and try and revitalize their career.

Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Shabazz Napier, Ed Davis, Seth Curry and now Rodney Hood are all excellent examples of that. Using the No. 25 pick, Olshey can now look to find another hidden gem that can hopefully come in and make a meaningful impact on the team.