Portland Trail Blazers: 2022 NBA Draft Grades For Every Pick

One of the most pivotal offseasons in Portland Trail Blazers history continued on Thursday night, but not in the way lots of fans hoped and many analysts expected. Here are full grades for Portland in the 2022 NBA Draft.

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Portland Trail Blazers 2022 NBA Draft Grades

No. 7: Shaedon Sharpe — A

Getting a player with a ceiling like Sharpe's in the mid-lottery is an objective win for Portland. What makes him such a perfect fit with the Blazers is that the success of their offseason no longer hinges on the 19-year-old ultimately reaching it.

Acquiring Jerami Grant without trading the No. 7 overall pick gave Portland the crucial option of no longer committing its entire offseason to the present. Pre-draft reporting indicated the front office still had eyes for OG Anunoby, ostensibly signaling the Blazers were leaning towars a win-now move with their draft pick. Taking fellow teenagers Dyson Daniels or Jeremy Sochan wouldn't have guaranteed Portland gets back to the playoffs next season, but at least better guarded against the possibility of the team wasting its highest-value asset as Damian Lillard gets deeper into his 30s.

Sharpe's complete lack of experience against high-level competition and questionable on-court motor definitely present that risk. His extremely rare blend of positional size, explosive athleticism and shooting talent ensure his floor isn't as low as naysayers believe, but there's still a chance he doesn't become a reliable NBA contributor for a few years. Sharpe's rise to the top of his high school recruiting class was meteoric, too. What if he's more of a streaky shooter than he showed on a small sample size during last year's summer circuit?

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The Houston Rockets invested heavily into Fred VanVleet during the 2023 offseason. Houston gave the point guard a three-year, $128 million deal in a move that was meant to turn the Rockets from a rebuilding team into a championship contending one. The signing did just that, as the Rockets finished the 2024-25 regular season as the two-seed in a stacked Western Conference. VanVleet was the veteran presence and 3-point shooter that the team desperately needed, and he still might have a role with the Rockets going forward. Houston has a team option on his contract for next year, and they very well may pick it up. The Wichita State product reportedly wants to stay in Houston, but the point guard would be set to make over $44 million next season under his current contract. The Rockets and their guard recently pushed back the deadline on Houston's decision with VanVleet, and although reports suggest that they are interested in writing up a new, long-term deal, it isn't necessarily a guarantee that VanVleet will be playing for Houston next year. The Rockets blew him away with an offer he couldn't refuse back in 2023, and another team could so the same when/if he hits the open market this offseason. If VanVleet does become an unrestricted free agent, which teams outside of Houston would make the most sense for him to sign with? 1. Orlando Magic Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner recently signed big deals with the Orlando Magic, and Paolo Banchero will be getting a mega contract extension here soon. Because of that, the Magic no longer have money to blow like they have had in recent years. That will make a deal for another big ticket free agent hard to pull off, especially considering the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope last year. If Orlando can make the money work, though, then Fred VanVleet would be a great fit with the Magic. The Magic finished dead last in 3-point shooting this season, and VanVleet has made at least 2.5 deep balls per game in every season since 2018-19. VanVleet can hit shots form behind the arc off of the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations. The Rockets were heavily reliant on his shooting expertise, so the guard would have plenty of familiarity getting up deep shots with high volume if he signed with the Magic. While undersized, VanVleet is a pesky defender, so he'd fit right in with a Magic team that has one of the best defensive units in the league. VanVleet could play alongside Suggs and give opposing teams fits. Ultimately, though, the Magic just need more shooting to get to the next level, and VanVleet is arguably the best shooter who could be available on the open market this offseason. 2. Brooklyn Nets A more realistic option for a VanVleet destination would be the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are set up to have the most cap space this offseason, and they have a major need at point guard. With D'Angelo Russell and De'Anthony Melton hitting free agency this offseason, the Nets don't have a true point guard under contract for next season. Brooklyn needs to spend big this offseason, and they'd be smart to offer VanVleet a contract big enough that he'd have no choice but to leave Houston. VanVleet averaged 14.1 points per game last season, which was his lowest mark since 2018-19. He is trending the wrong way, but he still has enough left in the tank to give the Nets a few good seasons. 3. Portland Trail Blazers In the same way that the Rockets were looking to take the next step in 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers could use VanVleet's presence to get over the hump. The Trail Blazers have plenty of big man depth, as centers Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, and Duop Death are all under contract next season. Portland also has a lot of wing depth. Deni Advija started to look like a star late this past season, Toumani Camara is an elite defender, Shaedon Sharpe is a freakish athlete, and Jerami Grant is a proven scorer. The team is thinner in the backcourt, though. Anfernee Simons is a solid scorer, but Scoot Henderson has looked like a fringe draft bust since being drafted third overall. Portland shouldn't give up on Henderson completely, but there wouldn't be any harm in signing another guard. Like the Magic, the Blazers were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. VanVleet would improve that weakness, and in a stacked Western Conference, Portland needs all of the help they can get if they are to compete for a playoff spot.

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Those are reasonable doubts, but the Blazers can stomach them with the knowledge that Grant fills the most gaping hole on the roster. The full mid-level exception should still be available after Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic re-up, too. Joe Cronin still has Eric Bledsoe's contract to dangle as a trade chip.

Picking a “safer” prospect at No. 7 wouldn't have necessarily made Portland better in 2022-23. Sharpe's superstar ceiling allows for the hope of a much brighter long-term future.

No. 57: Jabari Walker — A-

The son of former NBA center Samaki Walker is an intriguing late second-round pick for the Blazers, continuing their trend of adding rangy wing types after already bringing in Grant and Sharpe.

At 6'8 with a 6'11 wingspan, Walker has the overall flexibility and foot speed needed to switch onto smaller players without getting roasted, as well as the natural shooting touch to eventually become a consistent 3-point threat. He's not quite the marksman 52.3% long-range shooting as a freshman suggests, but it also bears mentioning Walker's 34.6% 3-point shooting last season came on a whopping 7.4 attempts per game. Needless to say, he'll get cleaner looks in the NBA than he did as Colorado's primary offensive option in 2021-22.

Beyond stretching the floor, however, it's unclear how Walker will contribute to an NBA offense. He's not a shot creator off the bounce and lacks the vertical pop to be a plus finisher around the rim. But mobile forwards with real shooting potential are ever valuable in the league, especially for a team like Portland that plans to play two small guards for significant stretches. Even if Walker's all-around versatility remains limited, the layered value he provides as a switchy floor spacer from the frontcourt makes him a smart pickup for the Blazers with one of the draft's final picks.