Who The Athletic Has The Trail Blazers Taking In Latest NBA Mock Draft
750 The Game Staff
The NBA Draft Lottery is coming up on Monday of next week, and that is when we’ll find out who gets the number one pick and Cooper Flagg.
While the Blazers chances of landing the top pick are a slim 3.7 %, The Athletic recently ran a simulation of the lottery that saw Portland rise from the seventh pick based on the standings all the way to the No. 3 overall pick.
Running a mock draft from there, writer Sam Vecenie assigned Flagg to the Washington Wizards at No. 1 and the Utah Jazz taking Rutgers guard Dylan Harper at No. 2.
Portland is on the clock at No. 3, and they go for one of the draft’s more intriguing prospects in 19-year-old Tre Johnson, a 6’6” wing from Texas.
From Vecenie:
Johnson was the most impressive player I saw working out during my trip to the U.S. He had one of the best shooting workouts I’ve ever seen from a teenage player, showcasing a serious-minded intentionality about how he goes about his craft. He displayed the ability to hit shots off movement at a high level, something that he rarely got the chance to do in an offensive scheme at Texas that could be charitably described as anachronistic but fairly described as hideously archaic. Even within that scheme, Johnson found his way into 19.9 points per game, even if he struggled a bit once he had to foray into the lane because of the team’s lack of spacing and his own still-improving overall strength level.
The Blazers, in my opinion, have a tremendous frontcourt of the future with Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan. However, there are questions in the backcourt surrounding young players Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson, and they could use another real floor-spacer to knock down shots and threaten defenders. I see Johnson’s range as somewhere in the No. 3 to No. 8 area. I’d be surprised if he got outside of that area of the draft. This is just too good a fit to pass up.
Check out the full piece from The Athletic here.
The NBA Draft Lottery is Mon. May 12th at 5:00 p.m. and the draft itself is June 25th.