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For the second season in a row, the Portland Trail Blazers were one of the worst teams in the Western Conference. The Blazers finished with a poor 33-49 record — the 13th-best in the Western Conference — and missed out on the postseason entirely.
Damian Lillard, Jerami Grant, and Anfernee Simons all had moments of brilliance throughout the season, but it wasn't enough to get the Blazers to the playoffs, or even the play-in tournament, for that matter.
But if there's one positive takeaway from Portland's second-consecutive letdown of a year, it's that the organization has the 2023 NBA Draft to look forward to. More specifically, the Portland Trail Blazers have two first-round picks in this year's draft, one at pick three and one at pick 23.
While Portland fans are understandably most excited about who the team will choose with the third overall pick in the draft, there are plenty of players projected to fall in the pick-23 range who project to be impactful NBA players. With all of that said, here is a last-minute prediction on who the Portland Trail Blazers will select with the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft:
Blazers draft prediction: Trayce Jackson-Davis
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Jackson-Davis, a 6'9″ forward, starred on the offensive end of the floor in his senior season with the Hoosiers. He averaged 20.9 points per game and shot an excellent 58.1% from the field. Jackson-Davis was a dominant paint scorer as a Hoosier and one of the best in the nation.
But Jackson-Davis did a whole lot more on the offensive end for his team than just scoring the ball. He dished out 4.0 assists per contest as a senior and showed some impressive vision and playmaking feel for a player of his stature. Jackson-Davis also crashed the offensive glass at a high level, as he corralled 2.8 offensive rebounds a night. His great nose for the ball allowed him to consistently generate extra possessions for his team.
Moving on to the defensive end, Jackson-Davis is at his best when he's defending the paint and serving as a rim protector. Jackson-Davis was perhaps the best shot-blocker in all of college basketball this season — he averaged 2.9 blocks per game for the Hoosiers, the fourth-highest in the nation. Jackson-Davis projects to be a very effective paint deterrent at the next level.
But for all that Jackson-Davis provides on both sides of the ball, he's not without his holes. Namely, Jackson-Davis was a non-threat to score the ball from behind the three-point arc during his time with the Hoosiers. He didn't so much as even attempt a single three-pointer in his senior season with the team. Hence, it's unclear at this point if Jackson-Davis will ever be able to add a reliable three-point shot to his scoring arsenal.
Despite Jackson-Davis' inability to shoot the three-pointer, the Portland Trail Blazers should and will take him with the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. After all, the Blazers don't have a whole lot of talent at the big men spots aside from Jusuf Nurkic, especially since Jeramy Grant will soon hit free agency.
Jackson-Davis' two-way skill set is too alluring for the Blazers to pass up with the 23rd pick. He may never become a star, but he has all of the tools to carve out a long and successful NBA career for himself.
