The Portland Trail Blazers can shock the rest of the NBA by trading their No. 3 pick for the upcoming 2023 NBA Draft. That's a possibility for now, and until they actually use that pick on draft day, rumors will continue to swirl about the potential of the Blazers using that pick to acquire another star that can make Damian Lillard happy and content.

Bam Adebayo is a player rumored to have the attention of the Blazers. The same can't be said about other star players being linked to Portland's No. 3 pick, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

The Blazers have been linked by league personnel to both Raptors forwards Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, but Portland doesn’t truly covet either Toronto player for the No. 3 selection, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Zach LaVine, the Bulls All-Star guard who flirted with Portland as he reached unrestricted free agency last June, also does not appear to be a legitimate target for the Blazers. For all the speculation about Minnesota sharpshooter Karl-Anthony Towns, there has been no apparent interest from either the Wolves or Blazers, sources said, on deal frameworks surrounding Towns for the third pick.

Article Continues Below

Siakam and Anunoby are effective and versatile defensive weapons but both are seemingly not impressive enough for the Blazers to cough up a lottery pick. LaVine and Towns are great offensive pieces but are not viewed as defensive stalwarts.

By trying to kick the tires on Adebayo, the Blazers are seemingly looking to have a reliable and proven defensive anchor to shore up their defense that ranked just 23rd in the NBA last season with 117.4 points allowed per game and 27th in opponents' effective field goal percentage (56.3%).