Portland struggled this past NBA season as the Trail Blazers were hurt by injuries to former draft picks and their free agent moves paid little dividends. The new front office will have four picks in the upcoming draft and that with a couple solid free agent moves could have this team battling for a spot in the Western Conference Playoffs next season.
The Trail Blazers own the sixth and 11th overall selections in round one and the latest mock has the team taking center Andre Drummond and guard Austin Rivers with these picks. Drummond entered his freshmen year at Connecticut with plenty of hype, but the big man looked uninspired and played mediocre basketball in his one year with the Huskies, but he has the size and athleticism that teams love and his upside is too much to pass on. Rivers is a solid guard with a high basketball IQ and at 6'5", he has decent size for a shooting guard.
In round two, Portland needs to add some depth to their bench and Mike Scott of Virginia and Kris Joseph of Syracuse are two forwards that can give the Trail Blazers some solid play off the bench. Both players are a bit small, but their four years of college ball will give them the experience they need to play at a professional level.
The NBA Draft is the first step in the rebuilding process, but with some good decision-making, teams like Portland can improve immensely in a short time.
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