Subscribe
Follow Us
No team in the NBA may face a bigger decision heading into Thursday's draft than the Portland Trail Blazers. Owning the third overall pick is not an issue whatsoever for teams across the league given that high draft picks are extremely valuable, especially in what is a highly talented 2023 draft class.
However, the Blazers find themselves at a crossroads because of where things stand with Damian Lillard.
Recently finishing his 11th season in the NBA, all of which have been in Portland, Lillard wants to compete at the highest level possible and contend for a title with the Trail Blazers. Over the last few seasons though, the Blazers have been going back-and-forth on whether they should start over and go through some sort of rebuild. The catch is that Lillard may very well request a trade should the franchise look to start over instead of leveraging their future to contend right now.
Delaying what seems like the inevitable, Portland has dug themselves a massive hole to try and climb out of with two days until this year's draft. Keeping this pick and selecting either Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller makes a lot of long-term success for this organization, but if they do keep this pick, Lillard asking out becomes much more likely.
With their options limited at this point, here are the best, most realistic trade options the Blazers can explore with the No. 3 overall pick ahead of the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday in order to get their superstar the help he needs.
Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby – Toronto Raptors
What are the Toronto Raptors up to right now?
Fred VanVleet has opted out of his contract, Gary Trent Jr. will be doing the same and they have remained extremely quiet since being eliminated from postseason contention. Masai Ujiri and this front office have remained confident in their abilities to contend at a high-level despite replacing championship head coach Nick Nurse with a first-year head coach in Darko Rajakovic and it does not appear that a rebuild is on the horizon for them.
However, that does not mean the Raptors will run things back, as teams across the league have been eyeing their roster since the trade deadline. The futures of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby are very much in play this offseason, but it would come at a big cost to any team interested in putting together a trade with Toronto.
Starting with Siakam, he was named an All-Star for the second time in his career this past season and averaged a career-high 24.2 points per game while shooting 48.0 percent from the floor. Entering the final year of his contract, Siakam has $37.9 million left on his contract before he is set to hit free agency next summer. Toronto is by no means motivated to move their All-Star big man, but doing so now before he hits free agency could be advantageous, especially given that they would receive the third pick in this year's draft.
For the Blazers, Siakam would be the perfect type of player for them to have next to Lillard at the power forward position. He's a capable scorer on his own and the two-time All-Star would take a lot of pressure off of Lillard.
Looking at Anunoby, his value is likely higher than that of Siakam's despite not being an All-Star. Being 25-years-old, Anunoby is still growing as a player and has already proven to be an All-Defensive type of talent on the wing. The Raptors have received numerous calls for him throughout the last year and have always set a steep asking price. That has not changed and in addition to giving up the third pick, the Blazers would likely have to sacrifice more of their future assets to potentially land Anunoby.
Zach LaVine – Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls should probably take a step backwards and begin gathering assets for the future simply because they missed the playoffs this past year and are thin on long-term talent. The idea of trading Zach LaVine has come up time and time again, yet the Bulls remain hesitant to deal him.
According to K.C. Johnson from NBC Sports Chicago, the asking price for LaVine would be a good young player, multiple first-round picks and a salary filler. Looking at Portland, this would likely mean a package centered around Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft and quite possibly two other first-round picks in 2026 and 2028.
That would be a lot of assets for the Blazers to sacrifice for LaVine, a player who does not push them into championship status and has dealt with several injuries and ailments through the last couple of years. From a talent perspective though, LaVine would surely be a nice addition in Portland next to Lillard.
The “one-two punch” they could create on the offensive-end of the floor would be deadly and in terms of three-point shooting, the Blazers would have a very dangerous backcourt. This is just too much for the Blazers to think about giving up though, which is why pursuing LaVine isn't a likely scenario ahead of Thursday.
Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram – New Orleans Pelicans
Out of all the directions the Trail Blazers could go in trade talks surrounding the No. 3 pick before Thursday, talking with the New Orleans Pelicans makes the most sense. Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson have both been attached to trade rumors as of late due to the fact of the Pelicans showing interest in moving into the Top-3 of this year's draft to specifically select Scoot Henderson.
There are no guarantees Henderson will be available when Portland is on the clock, but if he is, a deal could wind up happening between Portland and New Orleans. Whether this trade would involve Williamson or Ingram is a whole separate conversation.
Starting with Ingram, the Pelicans do not have much desire to trade their All-Star wing. An elite-level scorer who gets to his spots in the mid-range, Ingram has been the centerpiece of New Orleans' roster through the years. He is not set to hit unrestricted free agency until 2025, as Ingram still has two years left on his contract.
It's possible the Pelicans could look to move him, but it is much more likely at this time that they would trade Williamson instead. If he was healthy all of these years, trading Zion wouldn't make any sense whatsoever for New Orleans, but Williamson has missed way too many games for them to feel confident about his long-term future. Not to mention, there have been a lot of rumors surrounding his relationships within the organization.
Out of all the players the Blazers could add, Williamson seems like the player who makes the most sense from a fit and talent perspective. If he can stay healthy, which seems like a big ask at this point, he could not only improve their championship outlook right now, but long-term since Zion is still just 22-years-old.
Whether or not Portland can find a realistic trade opportunity ahead of Thursday's draft remains the key storyline around the NBA.
![How Sidy Cissoko embraced new Blazers opportunity [Exclusive]](https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_1465.jpeg)
