The Brief Case, Episode 100: 2024 NBA Draft Special | Portland Trail Blazers
[Music] greetings bler fans and welcome to the briefcase episode 100 of the briefcase a special draft edition of the briefcase a video draft edition of the briefcase we’re blowing it out here for the 100th episode of The Briefcase I’m your host Casey holdall and as you’re probably well aware the Portland Trail Blazers is preparing for this week’s draft first round on Wednesday second r on Thursday Portland Trailblazers with the 7th 14th 34th and 4th picks in the upcoming draft have spent the last two months plus figuring out what they’re going to do with those four picks bringing in players for workouts conducting Intel scouting all the things you do to get yourself ready when you’re on the clock to make those picks so on this edition of the briefcase we’re going to get you prepared for the draft which this year first round is on Wednesday 5:00 ESPN second round the next day on Thursday 1:00 ESPN so we’ll look at a little bit of draft history both for the Trailblazers and for the league in general look at the history of the seventh and the 14th picks and then get into the players that Portland has brought in for workouts or players that might be available when tur blazes are on the clock at the 7th and 14th picks so let’s go ahead and get started on this edition of the briefcase well first off let’s just go ahead and talk a little bit about the Portland Trailblazers and their recent draft history now granted what the Trailblazers did last year or the year before the year before doesn’t necessarily have a whole lot of impact on what they’re going to do in 2024 but it’s always worth knowing generally the way that teams conduct their business so that way when things happen you can generally understand like okay I’ve seen that before or oh I know where they’re coming from here that’s not to say they’re not going to change up that’s not to say they won’t do things differently every single draft presents a different Challenge and I think this draft more than other drafts is probably the case just considering on how little agreement there seems to be about which players should be going where so you really have to be on your p’s and q’s in terms of your scouting and what you value because what you value might not necessarily be with another team values and a lot of times I think when it comes the draft teams generally maybe look to see what other teams are doing and then base their boards somewhat on that this year I don’t really think that’s the case there’s so much different talent in this draft and there’s just not that top level Talent at least the presumption is there isn’t that top level talent in this draft that kind of feeds into the rest of the draft and what I mean by that is when you have two three four players who are all generally considered to be the best players in that draft that kind of filters down to all the other draft boards this year though there doesn’t seem to be whole lot of consensus about who is going to be in the top five really even the top one or two so this year I feel like those draft boards could be quite a bit different from one team to the next team and there’s always some kind of variance but I think this year probably more than other years there’s going to be more variance and because of that lack of consensus I think it’s really important to consider what each individual team has generally done in drafts especially when it comes to the current front offices so let’s go ahead and see what the Portland trailers have done over the last 5 years in terms of their picks and their trade S at the draft the Last 5 Years covers Joe kernan’s time as Portland’s general manager and even a little bit before that in 5 years feels like it gives us at least a decent idea of what the team has done generally over the last half decade in terms of their draft night preparation and obviously Joe Cronin was on the staff prior to that as well so you also get a pretty good sense of the way that Joe considers things or the way that things have operated when Joe Cronin has been in Portland’s front office so here it goes in the Last 5 Years Portland troublers have drafted 10 players six in the first round and four in the second round of those 10 players eight have ended up playing for the Portland Trailblazers those be Anthony Simons nir little CJ Elby shayon sharp Jabari Walker scoot Henderson Chris Murray and Ral rer almost all those players are still on the team by the way just Nas little and CJ Elby the only players who aren’t on the team who the Portland TR players have drafted in the Last 5 Years kind of interesting as for the two players who Portland selected who were then traded Portland selected Isaiah Stewart with the 16th pick of the 2020 Draft before trading him along with Trevor Reza and a 2021 first round pick to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Robert Covington and then in 20122 Portland selected Gabriel preda with a 36 pick before trading him a 2025 first round pick a 2025 second round pick and a 2026 second round pick to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Jeremy Grant and Ishmael kamagate Jeremy Grant obviously still on team as well so over the Last 5 Years not a lot of recent history with regard to draft Knight trades for the Trailblazers however ever they did execute six trades between the 2013 2015 and 2017 draft so in The Last 5 Years they’ve executed a lot fewer trades on draft night than they executed in the previous 5 years that also makes quite a bit of sense too when you consider where the trle is are at right now what they’ve been doing for the last couple seasons and terms with trying to build a team going forward whereas the Five Seasons before that they were trying to add to a team that they felt like was already ready to compete so that makes a little bit of sense why those numbers would be different but I also think too it comes down to deal slow and whether or not there’s good offers made available on draft night or if you’re as a team able to get other teams to bite on some of your draft ideas another thing that is worth considering and is probably actually more important than what they’ve done in the past is the current players that they have on the roster so Portland does have four draft picks but they also have 13 players currently under contract for next season and that’ll be 14 players that they decide to pick up dilano banton’s option so bringing in a four players does seem somewhat unlikely if they don’t make any other moves however it’s worth remembering that they also have two two contracts so while a trade even when that flips a current pick for a future pick seems somewhat likely it’s not exactly guaranteed seeing as how you now have 13 players under contract potentially 14 players that they pick up Delano banton’s option so that’s one open roster spot and then two open two-way spots and that says nothing of whether or not they might actually execute trades before the draft or sometime after the draft or what they might do in free agency and always worth remembering too that the draft is just one way to acquire players there’s obviously also trades and free free agency and those things typically come later on in the offseason so what they do at the draft or the team as constructed after the draft not necessarily going to be the team that is going to take the floor opening night for the 2024 25 season while in general I don’t think that needs are really the right way to look at the draft I’m a very much a proponent of picking the best player available it’s always worth the least considering what the current roster has because there are sometimes where if things are close maybe you go with positionality over best player available in this draft I think there’s probably more argument for that as well because again I don’t know if there’s a whole lot of agreement between one team to the next about which player is better than the other I think that really comes down to what each team prefers so in this draft maybe it’s a little more important than other drafts but even so I think generally particularly when it comes to seven and 14 the team’s going to take which players they feel like are the best players not necessarily which ones are the players who might fit at the positions the Portland TR Blazers need the most so let’s go ahead and consider what are some of the things that maybe the port TR Blazers need when you consider some of the skills that this team could probably still add they’re really a lot of the skills that every team could add and I think that’s really kind of the first thing you need to consider when it comes to talking about what the Portland Trailblazers need at this point in time they just need talent they need players that can come in and can compete at a high level and become parts of this team going forward the Trailblazers next season and probably the season after that are still more in the talent acquisition mode more in building their team building their roster building their culture and so what is going to result in wins from a night toight basis at this point probably not more more important that what is going to give this team the best chance to compete for a championship in 3 years and so when you’re talking about what this team needs it is a bit hard to tell at this point what they’re going to need when you’re really ready to start competing for the playoffs and for a championship and so because of that it just makes the most sense to take the players who you feel have the most Talent which I think obviously at seven and 14 that is something they’re going to prioritize but if they decide to go in more the direction of what are some of the things we need which I think when you get to the second round that’s when you start considering those things a little bit more or if you have a chance to trade down perhaps maybe those are the kind of things you consider if there’s not players at your pick that you think are really worth the trouble so some of the things that Portland Trailblazers could use are three-point shooting again every team needs three-point shooting Portland Trailblazers one of the worst three-point shooting teams last year they could definitely use an upgrade at shooting particularly on the wing the three-point shot is obviously incredibly important in today’s NBA and the Trailblazers could use a few more guys out there who are more likely to hit at a better clip than they did at least last season perimeter defense or really any defense again because it’s a team that has struggled on the defensive end for some time something they can also use as well once again if they decide to prioritize specific skills over just who the best player is and obviously that is a debate too what makes for a best player is not necessarily going to be the same from one team to the next it’s not like any of these things are hard and fast rules so it is figuring out what works best for you what your Scouts like what your team likes what your coaching staff likes and then going from there one other thing I think the Portland triple use as well as secondary playmaking having multiple ball handlers on the team is something again that that’s been an issue for this team for some time they’ve always generally had good ball handling guards but having players at the three the four and even the five that can take some of the pressure off in terms of creating offense that’s something Tri players could absolutely use if there’s players in this draft that they feel like could be good secondary Playmakers for this team I’m guessing that’s something they would also consider as well if they decide to go with more skills and positionality when they’re on the clock rather than just taking BPA all right well let’s do a quick recap of the recent history of seventh and 14th picks in the NBA draft in 202 3 balow kabali went seventh and Jordan Hawkins went 14th in 2022 as you probably know Shaden sharp went seventh pretty good pick there and oia agbaji went 14th 2023 Jonathan kaminga and Moses Moody both the Golden State by the way went seventh and 14th so the Trailblazers are in a very similar situation or actually in fact the exact same situation that golden state was in in 2023 when they took kaminga and Moses Moody two pretty good picks there I’d say 2022 Killian Hayes and Aon Nesmith went seven and 14th Killian Hayes no longer in the league or at least I don’t think he is or at least he got cut from the Pistons so not exactly probably something you want to emulate there with the seventh overall pick Arin NE Smith though nice little player and then 20121 Kobe white and Romeo Langford went seventh and 14th so good but not great in terms of the players recently who been taken with s and 14 though it’s probably a little bit too early on some of those guys to say whether or not they’re going to be good or great players in fact the guys in the last three drafts you probably need at least give guys four or five years to figure out what they’re going to be particularly with how young players are when they come into League these days so you really can’t judge a draft until three four 5 years down the line but in general seventh and 14th picks good players not a whole lot of great players at least not yet however if you go just a little further back some pretty good seventh picks in 2017 you had Lorie marinin very good pick 2016 Jamal Murray excellent pick 2014 Julius Randall very good pick 2012 Harrison Barnes not bad at all and then 2009 Steph Curry went seventh probably the best seventh pick of all time and then at 14 it obviously depends on what year it is but you’re probably looking at more very good role players at 14 obviously at the very end of some semi- recent 14th picks of note Michael Porter Junior went 14th in 2020 and he only went 14th because of his back if he had not had those injury issues he probably goes top five obviously he’s worked out pretty well for the Denver Nuggets and then in 2017 bam maabo another very good 14th pick if you get a player like bam maio at 14 you knocked it out of the park all right now let’s get to the players that Portland did work out either privately or publicly and consider some of the players they might be considering when they’re on the clock at both 7 and 14 worth pointing out here too that of the players I mentioned the Trailblazers drafted the last five years they’ve selected eight players that have been on their team I think every single one of those players participated in a draft workout with the Portland Trailblazers so if there’s one good indication of whether or not the Blazers are or not going to take a player it’s whether or not they worked out for the Trailblazers which seems kind of obvious but a lot of times you know you bring in a lot of different players for workouts you bring in so many different players for workouts that it kind of gets Loft in the shuffle sometimes who you brought brought in who you didn’t bring in and these days too with so many teams keeping something secret is sometimes it’s a bit hard to tell if a guy has worked out until after the fact but in general the Portland Trail Blazers have been a team throughout the years where the players that they pick particularly in the first round are generally players who have come through Portland four workouts so let’s go ahead and look at the players who have come through Portland during the 2024 by my count the trilers held seven public workouts with 37 players they also had multiple private workouts which reporting would seem to indicate were some of their best work outs in terms of first round Talent or at least the amount of players expected to go in the first round who came in for workouts generally those private ones seem like they’ve been some of the better workouts those are generally the players that request private workouts and this year with there not being a whole lot of consensus about which players are actually the best players I think there was more of an impetus for players to participate in public workouts whereas in other drafts I feel like if you’re about a top 10 guy a lot of times those guys only work out privately or at least solo workouts Blazers holding a number of private workouts both solo and group workouts so really a little bit of everything for the Trailblazers this year in terms of their 2024 draft preparation which makes some sense because they have four picks and it’s a draft where again there’s just not a whole lot of agreement about which players are the actual best players are going to be the best players when all these guys come to their own so once again the Blazers held seven public workouts with 37 players and I count roughly eight players who participated in public workups with the Trailblazers who are likely to go in the first round but Dalton connect is the only player who came came through Portland for a public workout who seems likely to go in the top 10 in terms of those private workouts we basically have to go off what some of the reporting has been and generally I think you can pretty much trust that reporting everyone usually knows where everyone else is worked out for they may not want to broadcast it but I’m guessing all 30 teams generally have a pretty good idea about where all the players expected to takeen at least in the lottery have worked out during this pre-draft process and when it comes to the Trailblazers private workouts of note included Donovan kingan Cody Williams Mattis buis and the sixth player workout which featured Ron Holland tjn Salon Ryan Dunn Zack Edy EES Missy and kaon George and the players who reportedly came through Portland for private workouts include Donovan kingan Cody Williams Mattis buis and the six player workout which featured Ron Holland T John Salon Ryan Dunn Zack Edy EV Missy and kaon George again those had reportedly happened and I know from time to time those things do get confused about who did come in when I know there was a little bit of misinformation at least in this draft process about players who’ come through Portland OR at least the timing of when they came through Portland but generally if someone says yes that guy worked out for a team even if the team didn’t announce it it’s generally safe to assume that that actually did happen and of the players that we either know or that reportedly came through Portland it seems like kingan Williams buis Holland and according to recent rumors at least Ed are all options at 7 while Salon dun Missy and George are all likely options at 14 same goes for Jared McCain kle wear Kyle filipowski Tristan D Silva and cim Christie all who are conceivable options in terms of players who had public workouts for the Trailblazers who might go around 14 that might be a little high for some of those players might be even a little low for some of those players but again in this draft with so little consensus it really comes down to what you like more so if you’re the Trailblazers this year I think it’s very possible that there might be players at 14 that you like that you would take it 14 then maybe another team wouldn’t take it 14 and vice versa again there’s just not a whole lot of consensus about a lot of these picks if you go around the mock drafts there’s basically guys at different spots everywhere out of the top three top four and generally mock drafts are not the best way to go about these things considering if you go back and look at some of those mock drafts they don’t actually have a very good hit rate but they are good indications of what teams are telling people it might not be actual information that’s true but it is an indication of what they’re saying and in this draft specifically I wouldn’t be surprised if any of the players who are expected to go in the first round who worked out for the toil Blazers end up going at 7 or 14 because again I just don’t think there’s going to be that much agreement from one team to the next about which players are best so if a player comes into a workout and does well he might move up another team’s board whereas if he has a bad workout with another team maybe he’s down on their board there’s not a whole lot of information to base some of those things on so I think this could be a year where again there’s a lot of variants and any of those players who’ve come through Portland for workout who are expect to be taken in the first round they could go at seven they could go at 14 and none of them will barely surprise me there are obviously players who I think are more likely to go at seven or 14 but if you were going to tell me that any of the guys who came through Portland for workouts were going to go with either one of those two first round picks I wouldn’t be surprised and while it’s never particularly easy to project out to the second round in this year’s draft it’s almost impossible to project out to the second round in my personal opinion there are plenty of options at 34 and 40 the second round particularly in this draft is really where I think teams probably go about dressing some of their team needs more than which players they think might end up being best because again once you’re getting down to 34 and 40th really hard to tell at that point in time what is going to pan out you just got to take a player that does the things that you feel like you like that works well for your team and live with the results all right with all that said let’s go ahead and dig a little bit deeper into some of the players of Portland Trailblazers might be interested in selecting with the seventh and 14th picks all right with all that said let’s go ahead and go a little bit deeper about some of the players some from have come through Portland some of whom have not come through Portland who the Trailblazers might be interested in selecting with these seventh and 14th picks we’ll start with the guards first off Reed Shepard a guy who seems like he probably won’t be available by time Portlands on the clock at 7 as I just mentioned it’s a bit difficult to game out this draft if you ask me guy like Reed Shepard even though it seems like he’s probably going to go in the top five who’s to say something didn’t happen on draft night he is a guy who is the definition of a two-way player Elite shooting Elite defense shot better than 50% from both the field and from three during his one season at Kentucky shot 52% if I’m not mistaken from three which is absolutely ridiculous one freshman of the Year from multiple organizations a guy who when you look at him 63 not exactly a huge guy you expect boy this guy just must be a shooter a guy who very good on the defensive end both on the ball and off the ball averaged 2.5 steals during his one season at Kentucky now granted Steels not always the best way to tell how good of a Defender someone is but a guy who absolutely makes his bones on the defensive end not just a shooter a guy who gives you Elite three and D possibilities and probably even more than that too but as I mentioned probably off the board by the time trbl are picking at seventh and I don’t know he’s necessarily a guy who you move up to get when you already have Anthony Simons scoot Henderson and Shaden sharp on your team and that’s something I probably should have mentioned as well the best player available really comes down to when you’re on the clock just because there’s a better player available does not necessarily mean you go and get that guy by executing trades it’s more about who’s the best player available at your pick when you’re on the clock not who’s the best player available in this draft and what will we have to do to get to that slot obviously if you like a guy a lot there’s a whole lot of things you can do trade-wise but it might not always be the wisest thing to do we’ll have to see on draft night next up Devin Carter do everything combo guard a guy who I think is going to really excel in the NBA if you can defend and shoot in the NBA you’re going to do a great job and he is a guy who can defend and shoot plays with a lot of poise plays with a lot of intensity he’s 63 and averaged 8.7 rebounds last season he averaged more rebounds in the Big East the Donovan kingan averaged in the Big East as a 6-3 guard that should tell you something about this guy’s want to Devin Carter a guy who is going to be a fan favorite wherever he goes impacts the game on both sides of the ball as a great shooter and an absolute phenomenal Defender can defend multiple positions something that every single team in the NBA is clamoring for as guys who can switch particularly on the perimeter and guard one two three perhaps even as much as four he’s a little bit small to guard fours but a guy who can at least hold his own if he gets Switched Off in the post NBA 4 is not exactly the same size they used to be anyways so very good undersized defenders in the modern NBA can sometimes go one through four it’s not super common but it does happen as far as I know neither Reed Shepard nor Devin Carter came through Portland for workouts one player who did come through Portland for a workout solo workout NE once again another guy who is a knockdown three-point shooter 40% of his attempts at Tennessee a guy who started in junior college then moved to Northern Colorado declared for the draft got feedback saying look man you’re going to have to show you can actually do this against better competition went to Tennessee for his final year sec Player of the Year and actually played better against better competition than he did in lower competition which is one of the reasons I think connect is now very likely to go in the top 10 of this draft a guy who can shoot off the dribble and attack close outs which is incredibly important if you’re a three-point shooter it’s not enough to just be a three-point shooter you have to be a three-point shooter you can also put the ball on the floor a little bit that way you can actually use the threat of your three-point shooting to create shots for yourself and for your teammates don’t connect a guy who can absolutely do that also a guy that can probably play the two or the three in the NBA a guy who again on the wing gives you shooting has an ability to defend as well finished off his college career with an elite eight run with Tennessee while also being a first team All-American if you win first team All-American after coming out of a junior college for your first two years you’re a guy who’s improved your game considerably don’t connect a guy who has worked his way from a guy who probably wouldn’t have gotten drafted last year to gu is going to be potentially a lottery pick this year actually a guaranteed lottery pick this year and then on the other end of the spectrum from Dalton connect is a guy like Jared McCain an efficient volume three-point shooter in his one season at Duke creates opportunities for himself and for others in transition is also another great rebounder for his size and for his position he’s an unselfish passer combo guard probably in the NBA played most of his time off the ball at Duke probably a guy who’s going to have to play some on the ball in the NBA he’s better off the ball at this point in time with as young as he is I’m sure that being on the ball in the NBA is something he’s probably going to be B to do and particularly considering how good of a pick and roll ball handler he is you probably are going to want him on the ball a little bit more in the NBA than maybe he was at Duke and again he offers something the Portland TR Blazers need which is shooting shot 41% from three in his one season at Duke on nearly six attempts per game but not just shooter he’s also a great rebounder which is another area that ders have had issues with for the last couple Seasons having guards can come in in rebound takes them the load off their bigs is definitely something this team could use he’s a great secondary playmaker he’s engaged he’s intelligent he talked about being a curious person when he came through his workout in Portland don’t connect and Jared McCain both came through Portland for workouts don’t connect solo workout Jared McCain group workout another guard who came through Portland for a workout cam Christie a guy who phenomenal shooter at Minesota his first season seven or 14 probably seems a little bit high for where he’s projected to go at this point in time but again neither would surprise me I’d be a little surprised actually if he got taken at 7th 14th seems like a possibility for cam Christie I’m guessing that’s probably not going be the case but he did come through Portland for a workout and if he falls to 34 which probably is more unlikely than him getting picked at seventh but if he did fall the 34 that’d be an interesting pick for the Trailblazers now onto some of the wing players of the Trailblazers might be considering with their seventh and 14th picks again I think the wing is where Portland could probably use the most help but it doesn’t necessarily mean those are the players they’re going to take seven and 14 I’m picking best player available if it happens to be a wing I think they’d love that if it’s not I think they’d be okay taking that player as well and addressing that some where else either later on in the draft or perhaps in fre agency or maybe even with a trade but with that said let’s go ahe and look at some of the Wings the Portland Trailblazers might be interested in at the 2024 draft first off Ron Holland a guy who one of the best players in his high school class went and played for the g-league ignite didn’t have the season at the ignite that I think he would have liked really no one at the g- league ignite seemed like they had the season they would have liked which is why they folded up shop Imaging at the end of the season but a guy who he’s available at seven he’s obviously an elite athlete a lot of his highlights show him out in transition a phenomenal athlete the Portland tras could use more athleticism on the wing for a couple Seasons now so a guy like Ron Holland really gives you that a guy who could end up being an elite defensive player in the NBA after averaging 2.1 Steals and 1.1 blocks for the ignite last season one of the youngest players in the 2024 draft as well so guy who still has a lot of room to grow and again you’re talking about 18 19 year olds who are playing professionally for their first time away from home for the first time I don’t know how hary leag can judge them by what they did with the g- league ignite I know Ron Holland also had an injury issue as well so once again not entirely sure how much you can look at what he did this season and say that this is or isn’t the player that he is or is not going to be at 68 205 lb gives you exactly what you want at that position two three perhaps you even have the ability to play some stretch four he’s one of those guys where you see the athleticism you see his skills you see the motor and you instantly start thinking about how he could play on an NBA team he’s the exact kind of guy who fits that prototypical Wing player in the NBA great at finishing at The Rim needs to become a better shooter not exactly uncommon for guys of that age particularly guys who are wild athletic generally the shooting comes along a little bit later because they’re usually able to get to the rim and that’s something that I know the Blazers would like players to do anyways chony BBS is definitely a coach who likes his players to get their feet in the paint rather than deferring for the first three-point shot Ron Holland a guy who’s definitely going to try to get his feet in the paint finish at over and around you rather than relying on his three-point shot and as mentioned at least reportedly Ron Holland did come through Portland for a workout as part of that big group workout that they had a few weeks ago then there’s Cody Williams out of Colorado who reportedly had a solo workout with the Trailblazers lanky playmaking forward younger brother Jaylen Williams with the Oklahoma City Thunder obviously if they end up turning out anything like Jaylen Williams that’s a home run pick at seven Great feel for the game great understanding of pace and space again another guy who probably didn’t do exactly what he was liked to do in his one season at Colorado but he still shot better than 55% from the field and 41% from three which you’ll take that on your team any day of the week he’s one of those guys where it’s just super easy to visualize him on an NBA team obviously having a brother who’s already a very good NBA player helps with that a little bit but he’s 68 7 foot wingspan prototypical NBA Wing size a guy who can shoot who can defend guy who can finish at The Rim as well I think Williams is a guy too where if you look at Portland’s roster he probably fits in better in terms of positionality than some of the other options again it’s going to come down to whether or not he’s the best player available when the Blazers are on the clock at either seven or 14 but he’s very easy to see how you could go ahead and plug him in right away going forward for this Trailblazer team as a young Wing to pair up with the guys you already have on the team and Shaden sharp and Scoot Henderson and I mentioned this previously the Trailblazers seem like they’ve more deferred to having guards and bigs come through for workouts so not a whole lot of guys who I would call Wings came through Portland for workouts other guys who did though Jaylen Tyson of Cal a guy who really gives you kind of a little bit of everything a ball handling 67 guard forward kind of player again 74 14 seems a little bit high for him but a guy who came through Portland for a workout reporter Le did a very nice job a guy with a little bit of uh Brandon Roy to his game I I would say you know not someone who’s going to blow you over with athleticism but a guy who knows how to play the game can shoot knows how to get to a spots on the floor and has that size to where you can play the one the two or the three kaan Georgia Miami also came through Portland supposedly for that private workout same with Ryan Dunn both those players guys who defensively Portland could really use what they to offer length they’re both young Dun A guy who seems like he’s shooting up draft boards I think was initially a second round guy has maybe worked his way into the middle of the first round kaon George a guy who out of Miami George both a good shooter and a good secondary playmaker both things T just could absolutely use has great Sid for position as well long arms a guy who could probably become a very good defender in the NBA another guy who’s super young a guy who wasn’t expected necessarily to be a oneandone guy ended up playing well at Miami worked his way into a first round pick likely to go probably sometime after 14 but again I think the Blazers like you they’re going to take you with one of their picks they’re not going to necessarily try to fool around and maybe try to trade back in hopes that you’re still going to be on the board in this draft if you like a guy take him and finally we come to The Bigs which tra blaz has worked out quite a few bigs throughout the pre-draft process and I think that really just speaks to the fact that there just Happ to be more good big men in this draft than there are wings and guards not necessarily the Bladers are looking for a center but if the best player available when Portland’s on the clock is a center I believe they’re going to take that play player even though they already have DeAndre Jordan and Robert Williams II third both very good players at their position players that the Blazers absolutely love but his best player available and so if one of these guys is the best player when Portland’s on the clock I think they’re going to take that guy regardless of who else is already on the team so let’s go ahead and look at some of the bigs who Portland might be interested in at seven or 14 particularly guys who came through Portland Donovan kingan obviously Yukon backto back two-time National Champion obviously an elite rim protector and a guy who can probably actually guard out a little bit on the perimeter as well granted he’s huge 7 foot he’s not going to be a guy who’s necessarily going to be able to contain guards on the perimeter but he’s going to be able to hold things in check a little bit better than I think people might assume he can if you’re one of those people that doesn’t like the idea of Center shooting threes Donovan kingan and Zach Edie are your kind of guys neither one of those guys really three-point threats there’s some talk that kingan shot threes in high school but he basically took none in college and I think he’s like a 50 something per free throw shooter so I wouldn’t necessarily assume that he’s going to come into the NBA and be able to shoot threes but he obviously gives you Elite in protection a guy you can throw the ball to in the post has nice soft touch in the paint and he’s just really scratching the D of what he can do as a player so Donovan kingan a guy who there’s a lot of talk that seven is his floor could go well beyond that there’s some talk that he might even go first but if nothing else the guy who Portland reportedly brought in for a private solo workout and then you have his nemesis from the national title game Zach Edy who as you surely know an old school Center he uses a size to punish opponents on both sides of the ball Le purut second most rebounds third and most points and big Big 10 history led the NCAA in total points rebounds in a senior season with the boiler makers back-to-back winner the naith wooden and Abdul Jabar Awards a guy who 10 15 years ago is probably the number one pick no one would even question it nowadays with the NBA the way it is has kind of gone away from big men a guy who is expected to go somewhere in the first round there was some talk early on in the process he was going to go late in the first round it seems more and more and more that he’s moved his way up into the lottery which is something I think you probably expect to happen in the draft again is a 74 enormous sender where the NBA is at right now not necessarily but if a guy can play he can play and by all accounts Zack Edy can play 74 286 lbs once again an absolute throwback Center back to the basket kind of guy I saw his name mentioned with Shaq today which Shaq doesn’t get the credit he deserves Shaq is one of the all-time greats if if Zach Ed ended up anything like Shaquille O’Neal you you don’t just walk to pick him at seventh you run to take him at seventh and again Shaq is a guy too where in today’s NBA if you drop Shaq into a team now in his prime he’s still going to dominate I think that’s the hope if you take a guy like Zack Edy that with his size he’s going to be able to play well even if the NBA is not exactly going in that direction at this point in time though we I think we’re also starting to see a little bit of a courts correction in the NBA in terms of centers you see the teams that faced off in the Conference Finals this year a lot of those teams with some traditional big men centers and that’s just kind of the way the NBA works sometimes is something is in and then everyone does it and and then some another team goes another Direction and that works then everyone does that so that’s just the EB and flow of the NBA and perhaps we’re in an e now where the flow is about ready to come back to centers like Zack Edy Ed reportedly had a group workout with the Trailblazers though it was a private workout while Donovan kinging and Zach Ed are both very well-known properties at this point in time because of their time in college a guy like T John Salon not so much the case let 18-year-old who basically no one even knew about as of last year has shot up draft boards in this draft process cess he’s put the last two seasons for Chalet in the French L&B Pro a league he’s a guy who at this point in time in his career really gets it done with effort determined tenacious Defender makes plays on and off the ball an improving three-point shooter shot 33% last year from Chalet after shooting basically no three-pointers the season prior to that also shot 77% from the free throw line generally the idea is that if you can shoot free throws as a big they feel like in the NBA they can teach you how to shoot three-pointers shooting 33% from three with cholet or he gives you a pretty good sense that while he might not ever be a knockdown shooter going to be a guy that can hit the three-point shot with some regularity in the NBA he ended up averaging nine points and four rebounds in 33 games with Chalet quite a leap from his first season to his second season 6-9 7-1 wingspan one of the guys in this draft who if you’re looking for more upside if you’re looking for a guy who you feel like might be a much better player than he is right now Salon is one of those guys there’s an idea that sometimes if you just don’t know a whole lot about a guy that he has a higher ceiling that’s not necessarily the case but the guy in Salon has at least the measurables and the mentality that I think probably makes teams feel pretty good about his chance of becoming a good NBA player should they take him somewhere in the lottery also expected to go somewhere in the late Lottery at least the most recent mock drafts have him there another guy who again participated in that group workout with the Portland Trailblazers that was held privately reportedly then there’s another International and Tristan to Silva though obviously he is a much more known product than Salon a guy who played the last four seasons at Colorado actually worked out for the TR Blazers last season in the pre-draft process before deciding to go back to Colorado this probably a late second round pick then a guy who’s probably going to go anywhere in the late Lottery to the mid first round this season did a nice job going back to Colorado improving his draft stock coming back getting his degree and then declaring for the NBA draft this season stat stuffing stretch four guy who shot 39% from three on eight attempts a senior season nice little crafty finisher at The Rim can actually get out transition can handle the ball a little bit a guy can just do a little bit of everything his three-point shooting is what’s going to get him on the court the NBA but he has a varied game that can just he just does kind of those little things very much like another guy out of Colorado Jabari Walker in the NBA nowadays you almost need bigs that can shoot and Tristan D Silva a guy who can shoot a little undersized for Center at 68 69 but I think a guy who could probably play some small ball Center can definitely play the three or the four a very underrated Defender as well too a very good positional Defender Tristan D Silva one of those guys who you know his ceiling might not be as high as some other guys but if you end up drafting him I feel like you feel feel very confident that he’s going to have a long productive career in the NBA and in this draft that might be what you’re looking for and then the other side of that coin is a guy like kle wear who’s really more of a guy who played that first season at Oregon did not go the way that he or Ducks would like ended up transferring to Indiana had a great season in his one year at Indiana phenomenal athlete great Rim protection questions about his motor but if he’s on your team and motivated he has the skills the size and the athleticism to really make a difference to that Center position I think K wear a guy who’s probably a little undervalued in this draft a guy who some mock drafts had him going in the second round some mock drafts had him going in the lottery seems like he’s kind of evened out somewhere in the late Lottery to late first round at this point in time but again in this draft if he went 14th that wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest bit of all the centers that came through Portland for workouts where is the guy who I think gives you a little bit of everything he’s a much better shooter than guys like Klan and Edy much larger than a guy like d Silva and again a guy who where you just look at him you watch him play you can just absolutely see the way that he would work on an NBA court the absolute kind of guy you want as a center in the modern NBA and again someone who because of the way things went at the beginning of his career maybe a little bit undervalued a lot of times when it comes to big men the concerns about motor I think are a bit overblown you know when you are a big man it’s tough you know you’re getting banged on Non-Stop so like it’s a little different than when you’re a guard you don’t get the ball as often as the other guys do so you don’t get a chance to score as often as they do to keep you engaged but I feel like a lot of times you know that’s a product of kind of just Youth and once you get into an NBA system once you’re a professional I feel like a lot of those things generally get taken care of and again wear did have a workout with the Trailblazers a public workout with the Trailblazers that also featured Tyler Smith out of the G league night another guy who I think they might be considering at that four five position also Kai filipowski out of Duke a guy who projecting more as a power forward in the NBA another guy great three-point shooter for his size came through Portland for a public workout as well he was in the TST to Cil workout actually as well a guy who I think absolutely could be in play for the Portland Trailblazers at 14 and then in regards to the second round again as I mentioned a bit difficult to project out into the second round particularly when you have players come into Portland because sometimes you don’t know if necessarily they brought a player in because they like that player or they brought a player in because they want to see someone with those skills go up against a player that they like more that’s kind of the way that some of these workouts work is that a lot of times you maybe have one or two guys in the workout that you like and then you’re bringing in players to try to test the deficiencies you feel like those players might have now granted you might watch those players during that workout and decide hey we actually maybe like this guy better than the guy we thought we were going to like but it just makes it a little more difficult when you’re talking about second round picks and interest because a lot of these guys are going through so many workouts a lot of times it’s just about getting guys into your building to get six players so you can have a run so it’s a little difficult to tell once you get that far back into the draft what the actual interest is among the teams but I would say that guys like Demona out of UCLA Oso igodo out out of Marquette Dylan Jones out of Weber State and Nicolo durisic out of KK Mega basket Belgrade and naquan Tomlin out of Memphis are players who worked out for the Trailblazers in Portland who they might be considering for their 34th and 40th picks that’s just a straightup gut feeling on my behalf I don’t have any intel about any of those things no one in the front office generally tells me anything about any of their opinions when it comes to the draft at least prior to the draft so seeing some of the players who have come through Portland seeing where those players ended up going after they went to Portland seeing some of the skills those players might have and then figuring out are these generally the kind of players that Portland selects in the second round the fact that those players all worked out for the Trailblazers the best indication that they’re at least somewhat interested in bringing those players in all those guys expected to go somewhere in the second round so I’m just making an assumption there that the players that they like that they brought in who are also projected in the second round are likely players they are considering in the second round and that’s going to do it for this edition of the briefcase episode 100 of the briefcase thank you so much for joining me as always first round is on Wednesday 5:00 on ESPN second round is on Thursday 1:00 also on ESPN go to tes.com draft if you want to come to our draft party it’s free admission at Mota Center 5:00 start time for that one games prizes celebrate whoever the troublers end up selecting in the draft and then I think we’ll probably have press conferences with new players on Saturday so be on the lookout for that but plenty of draft coverage this week leading up to and after the 2024 NBA draft so we will talk to you later on this week thank you so much for joining me as always I Casey holdall go Blazers [Music]
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