Blazers among teams looking to trade lottery pick
Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, June 14, 2023
- Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard shoots a three-pointer during an NBA game against the Miami Heat at Moda Center in Portland.
The 2023 NBA draft is a little more than one week away, and very little is settled in terms of how the draft will go down.
While the San Antonio Spurs are widely expected to select 7-foot-4 French phenom Victor Wembanyama with the first overall selection, what happens after that is anybody’s guess.
The Charlotte Hornets, with the No. 2 pick, must decide whether to select wing Brandon Miller or point guard Scoot Henderson. The Hornets possess a point guard in LaMelo Ball, so their choice is expected to be Miller, who draft evaluators have moved past Henderson as the second-best prospect in the draft.
There are teams looking to trade their lottery pick and other teams very interested in acquiring a high pick.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentioned the Trail Blazers as a team that could be offering the No. 3 pick in an attempt to “add people around Dame Lillard.” If the Hornets select Miller, the Blazers, with Lillard and Anfernee Simons in the backcourt, probably wouldn’t be interested in Henderson, increasing their leverage in trade scenarios.
Windhorst added that the Houston Rockets (No. 4), the Detroit Pistons (No. 5) and the Dallas Mavericks (No. 10) are other teams looking to move their picks.
On the other side, the New Orleans Pelicans are looking to trade up from their current No. 14 spot and acquire the No. 2 or No. 3 pick to select Henderson. The Indiana Pacers (No. 7) possess three first-round picks at No. 7, 26 and 29 and two more (No. 32, 55) in the second round. They are expected to package some of those picks to potentially trade up in the draft in an attempt to select Miller or Henderson.
The Pelicans would likely have to give up a star player to pull off a trade, and they could be ready to move on from the injury-prone Williamson or trade Brandon Ingram.
Williamson, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft, has struggled to stay healthy. Williamson has played in more than 60 games once and played in less than 30 games during two other seasons while playing in just 114 games during his career. Williamson signed a five-year, $193 million extension last July, but the Pelicans could be willing to trade him and begin a rebuild.
If the Pelicans opt to retain Williamson, they might trade Ingram, who is the type of wing player a team like the Blazers or Charlotte would covet. The 6-foot-8 Ingram is just 25 years old and coming off a career-high 24.7 points per game last season. He has averaged at least 22 points a game in each of the last four seasons. However, Ingram has endured his own health issues — he appeared in 45 games last season and has never appeared in more than 62 games in each of the past six seasons.
The Rockets are reportedly interested in trading their pick for a established star player and could be looking at Williamson. That’s because when Williamson is on the court, he’s a monster. Williamson has career averages of 25.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.