Damian Lillard decided to be his team’s lucky charm up on the stage of the NBA Draft Lottery for the first lottery pick the Portland Trail Blazers have had in years. Portland has been a perennial playoff team over the last few years under the leadership of Lillard, but an injury-riddled season for the point guard means that the Blazers get a chance to bolster their roster with a lottery pick.
Portland would have fancied their chances to jump up in order, having a 9% chance at jumping up for the #1 pick and with an expected #6 pick. However, the Blazers somehow managed to fall down and end up with the seventh pick.
Every person related to an organization wants to see their team jump up in the lottery and get extremely lucky. Considering the elite big-men at the top of the draft, Lillard would have loved to be paired up with one of them. After the Blazers were announced as the occupiers of the 7th pick, Lillard couldn’t hide his disappointment.
Dame Lillard's reaction falling to the 7th pick ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜pic.twitter.com/zCftUmLFZc
— PiñataFarms: Meme Maker (@pinatafarms) May 18, 2022
At the end of the day, it is still a top-10 pick in a very solid draft class. However, whether drafting a prospect and developing them makes sense for the Blazers as they are constructed is another question.
Portland got rid of a lot of weight on the team to create space for a max contract player next to Lillard. This pick could be instrumental in them trying to trade for someone that Lillard can play beside. If no trade partner is feasible, the Blazers do have choices.
The likes of A.J. Griffin, Benedict Mathurin, Jalen Duren, Mark Williams, etc could all be available to the Blazers. If any player from the top 6 prospects goes unselected, the Blazers can possibly get a steal. While it wasn’t the ideal lottery day for Portland, they have a very interesting off-season coming.
