The NBA draft lottery is tonight and the Portland TrailBlazers have less than a 4% chance at winning and securing the rights to draft uber prospect Cooper Flagg.
The Blazers where never really in the running to have the best draft odds this last season…tanking by the Jazz, the Wizards, the Hornets and the Pelicans plus an unexpectedly bad season in Philadelphia locked up the top 5 chances to win the lottery pretty easily.
Given the Blazers history with the first pick most of the Rip City faithful is fine without drafting at the top of any draft even one with such a clear number 1 player as Flagg.
The draft lottery started in 1985 and as an organization the blazers stayed out of it until 2004. No small feat in my opinion.
The Blazers have had only 8 players they’ve drafted in the lottery play for them…10 if you count Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge who came over in a draft day trade in 2006.
| year drafted | pick # | Player |
| 2004 | #13 | Sebastian Telfair |
| 2005 | #6 | Martell Webster |
| 2007 | #1 | Greg Oden |
| 2012 | #6 | Damian Lillard |
| 2013 | #10 | CJ McCollum |
| 2022 | #7 | Shaedon Sharpe |
| 2023 | #3 | Scoot Henderson |
| 2024 | #7 | Donovan Clingan |
Sebastian Telfair was a bust drafted for the wrong reasons.
Martell Webster always had flashes of being a really good scoring guard but injuries played a part in his less than stellar career as a blazer.
Greg Oden wasn’t a bust.
Dame and CJ had the most success as teammates of anyone drafted in the lottery by the blazers…losing in the Western Conference finals to the Warriors in 2019.
Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson and Donovan Clingan are all foundational players in my opinion to a very good team.
Sharpe has the most upside and the ability to be an all NBA caliber payer.
Scoot is super young and got way better last season. Looks like a good starting PG in the league going forward.
Donovan Clingan is a defensive anchor who will be a problem for opponents as he gets his conditioning up to NBA levels and learns how to stay out of early foul trouble.
Will the Blazers be able to add another foundational piece in this year’s draft?
A lot of that will depend on where the lotto balls fall tonight.
pacduneslooper 
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