NBA Trade Rumors: Will the Portland Trail Blazers move the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft?
Heading into the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, if there was one player that deserved their team moving up, it was probably Damian Lillard. He’s been loyal to the Portland Trail Blazers, perhaps to a fault, and allowing him to play with Victor Wembanyama could’ve been the exact gift from the basketball gods that he perhaps deserved.
While the Blazers did move up, they didn’t move up all the way to No. 1. Portland moved up to No. 3 overall (from the fifth spot), but that will open the door for the opportunity for the Blazers to do something interesting with their pick.
I think it would be hard to imagine and quite unfair to expect a Brandon Miller or even a Scoot Henerson to come in and play a starring role in their rookie season next to Damian Lillard. And if the team wants to continue to build around Lilard and give him the best opportunity to compete for a championship next season, it’s pretty car what needs to happen at the NBA Draft – they must trade the pick.
What could the market be for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft?
And according to a recent report, the expectation is that the Blazers are going to see a healthy trade market for the No. 3 pick – from teams that will be looking to target Miller or Henderson (whichever isn’t selected by the Charlotte Hornets at No. 2).
The big question is whether or not the Blazers will get the offers for a veteran star. That’s what should be the asking price, at the least, from the Blazers. If not a veteran star, the Blazers should be hoping to land the necessary assets that would open the door for a path to a veteran star.
But that could be a gamble.
Portland has a big decision to make. They are sitting in a position where they could quite possibly select the next face of the franchise with the No. 3 pick. Or, they could trade it and hope that the result is a championship-contending team with Lillard. And that’s far from a sure thing.
It’s impossible to predict what the Blazers will do this offseason or even just at the NBA Draft. However, one thing is certain, they have the flexibility to either retool or rebuild. All the Blazers need to do is decide which route they want to go in.