Ringer: Portland Trail Blazers Trying to Trade Up in 2024 NBA Draft

In the latest episode of The Ringer’s NBA Draft Show podcast, Kevin O’Connor and J. Kyle Mann discussed murmurs that the Portland Trail Blazers want to move up in the 2024 NBA Draft, along with the Cavs and Raptors. You can listen here, and the conversation starts at around the 12:00 mark and lasts approximately four minutes. They’ll cover more than we discuss here.

It’s unclear if “move up” means Portland using the #14 to gain a second top-ten pick, or if they want to move into the top five. This led to all kinds of questions. The first: What picks or assets are they attempting to trade?

Now, Portland already has the number seven pick. Maybe they’re the team that wants to trade up. Maybe Portland’s trying to do, you know, #7 and #14 to go all the way up to #1. Or maybe they’re trying to do #7 and #14 to #3 and then get to #1 or something like that.

The second question: Would any players be included? They discuss the idea that Portland has an inevitable odd-man-out situation with their back court of Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, and Scoot Henderson. So perhaps they’d consider moving Simons as a way to sneak into the top of the draft.

Like, [the Rockets] want that next Fred Van Vleet replacement because he’s 30 years old. He’s only got two years left on his contract. Maybe Anfernee Simons could be the guy that fits that, Simons is still only 24 years old. Maybe Simons, plus #7 and #14 for #3, something like that. I mean, to me, that’s an interesting offer, [but] it’s a bit rich, I think. But if there’s a guy the Blazers are targeting and that they can’t get at #7 then I could see that, you know, having some appeal. And you can sprinkle in some salaries and other assets and all that going either way, but as a foundation of a deal, #3 for #7, #14 and Simons. I kind of I’m into that. Yeah, I was trying to think, Tjarks used to say, “if you draft one small guard, you’re out of the small guard business.”

Lastly, they discuss who might be a fit for Portland, even if they haven’t been publicly linked with the team. Top on their list is the G League’s Matas Buzelis, but that might require trading up:

Buzelis is a really interesting possibility for them. What do you think about Buzelis with the Blazers, in terms of checking the things that they need? To me, he’d probably be like number one on the board. And I think you have to get ahead of the Pistons at #5 in order to get Buzelis. I just think it’s very unrealistic for Buzelis to fall past the Pistons with the fifth pick.

Our own draft expert, Steve Dewald, wrote a profile of Buzelis. Here was his conclusion:

Buzelis is an interesting project prospect with a wide range of offensive skills. At this point, the majority of Buzelis’ strengths are purely theoretical. He projects to be a three-level scorer with positional versatility. However, during his stint in the G League, he was inefficient on offense and he was routinely outmatched by physical opponents. Buzelis is a willing passer, but he will need to tighten up his handle and passing before he can take over even a modest role as a facilitator.

The Portland Trail Blazers currently own the #7 and #14 picks in the 2024 NBA Draft. The first round takes place in two weeks, on Wednesday, June 26.