NBA Draft: Teams that Could Look to Trade for Trail Blazers’ Third Overall Pick

The Trail Blazers are in one of the more precarious positions in the entire 2023 NBA Draft.

With some lottery luck, they jumped up to grab the third overall pick. But with Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, Matisse Thybulle and a host of other win-now players, even the third pick won’t be enough to propel them to contention.

As previously reported, the team will look to shop the selection in order to pair Lillard with a star. Let’s assess what teams could be in the market to trade up:

Brooklyn Nets

Perhaps the most obvious team is the Brooklyn Nets, who, armed with Mikal Bridges and multiple first round picks, could look to move up to third and grab their focal piece of the future.

While they have great pieces in Bridges, Ben Simmons, Cam Johnson, Nic Claxton and more, they don’t have a superstar ready to lead them into their next era. And those are typically drafted in the upper ranks of the draft.

If they like their choices enough at third overall, they could look to pair Bridges and Lillard to move up and grab their guy. The one thing stopping the Nets from doing so would be the Rockets owning their future picks for the next several years.

Utah Jazz

In a similar situation, the Jazz have a newly emerging star in Lauri Markkanen. But if they wanted a true reset following the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert era, they could move up by offloading the star and opting for a prospect.

They likely only do this is they’re confident they could land Scoot Henderson third overall, or are supremely confident in Amen Thompson’s superstar upside. And retaining their ninth overall pick would likely be pivotal here, too.

Toronto Raptors

With several interesting decisions coming up regarding their future, the Raptors could opt to trade a few pieces to move up and grab a player more in line with Scottie Barnes’ timeline.

The former Rookie of the Year didn’t have the most optimal second season, but still has plenty of value as a two-way piece.

If the Raptors felt strongly about their chances to land a high-impact player at third overall, they could offload any combination of OG Annunoby, Gary Trent Jr., or even Pascal Siakam if they’re serious about a reset.

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