Damian Lillard's Portland Trail Blazers were oh-so-close to getting the No. 1 overall pick and winning the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes at the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery. Still, they moved up from the No. 5 to No. 3 overall pick, which “raised eyebrows all over the league right away,” according to ESPN's Zach Lowe.
Although it's certainly possible that Portland could keep the pick, Lowe asserts that rival executives expect that they could try to move it and load up around Damian Lillard, who is clearly losing patience with his current team.
“The No. 3 pick by itself won't net a game-changing veteran. What might the combination of that pick and Anfernee Simons get Portland?” wrote Lowe on Tuesday night.
“If they do try to load up around Lillard — which requires Lillard indicating he'd like to stay in Portland — expect the Blazers to go after wings and big men, sources said. Portland also has Shaedon Sharpe, but his strong finish to the season would make the Blazers even queasier about including him in any kind of win-now trade.”
It's certainly an interesting situation in Portland, and gets more intriguing after the email that the team sent to season ticket holders on Tuesday night.
“We've secured the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Our Basketball Ops team is working behind the scenes to improve our roster and build a team ready to compete alongside Damian Lillard, who had his best season to date last year. Stay tuned, this offseason is sure to be exciting!”
Plus, team general manager Joe Cronin said after the draft lottery that “we're a team that's trying to win and trying to maximize Damian Lillard's timeline.”
With all of that considered, it's sure to be a fascinating offseason in Oregon as the Trail Blazers try to hold onto the best player in franchise history.
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