Three Prospects Blazers Could Target With Bought Second-Round Pick
The 2021 NBA draft is a few days away, and the Trail Blazers remain one of just two teams in the league—alongside the Miami Heat—without a first or second-round pick. But don't ignore the July 29 proceedings altogether, Rip City.
Even if Portland resists trade offers for C.J. McCollum and hangs up the phone when teams call to inquire about Damian Lillard, as all recent momentum suggests, Neil Olshey could still conduct some lower-level business on draft night. According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, the Blazers have hopes of acquiring a second-round pick to add another young player to its thin stable of assets.
Below are three prospects Portland should target with a bought second-rounder.
Joe Wieskamp, G/W, Iowa
A premier marksman during his three-year tenure with the Hawkeyes, Wieskamp opened the eyes of NBA scouts and front office decision-makers at the draft combine last month. The junior dropped 26 points on 6-of-7 shooting from deep during his final game in Chicago, capitalizing on momentum first established in athletic testing, where he soared to a 42-inch max vertical leap.
Unfortunately, his aerial explosiveness in the combine setting isn't an accurate representation of Wieskamp's overall functional athleticism. His NBA ceiling is likely no higher than backup shooting specialist unless Wieskamp improves his lateral quickness and physicality on defense, deficiencies that were exploited at times in the Big Ten.
But at 6-foot-7 with a wingspan just below seven feet, Wieskamp boasts the length, feel and shot versatility needed to carve out a long-term niche in the league regardless. His ability to stretch the floor as a spot-up shooter and off-ball mover, as well as make sound decisions against a scrambling defense, fits perfectly with the offensive ethos being championed by Chauncey Billups, and would afford the Blazers' guards extra space to attack in the halfcourt.
Jericho Sims, C, Texas
An absolute freak of nature physically, Sims has wowed scouts and fans alike during the predraft process with his mouthwatering blend of size, agility and bounce. Standing 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, the Longhorns senior moves far more like a souped-up guard prospect than a big man who ranks among the most fearsome rim-protectors and lob-catchers in his class.
Video of Sims showing off his otherworldly explosiveness at Klutch Sports' pro day earlier this month went viral, and rightfully so. How many players in the league have the vertical pop to literally hit their foreheads on the rim?
Of course, Sims would stand far higher on draft boards if there was much more to his game than the myriad ways his raw athleticism is manifested on the court. He's not a shooter whatsoever and possesses merely rudimentary ball-handling capacity on the perimeter, severely limiting the scope of his role offensively. At 22, it's not like Sims has much room to improve his lagging skill and overall feel, either.
Still, any team in the league would be wise to take a second-round flier on a center who—at least theoretically—has the physical gifts needed to both protect the rim and switch onto smalls at a difference-making level. Sims's versatility defensively is exactly what the Blazers, poised to play more aggressively on that end under Billups, need in the frontcourt behind Jusuf Nurkic. His ability to play high above the rim on dives to the basket would provide Portland an offensive element it's long lacked during the Lillard era, too.
Marcus Garrett, G, Kansas
Arguably the top perimeter stopper in this draft class, Garrett is a menace defensively with long arms, disruptive hands and incredibly quick feet. He's just as effective guarding away from the play as he is making life hell on ball handlers, consistently able to stick with shooters flying around screens and blow up would-be dribble hand-offs.
Though he lacks the natural girth to be truly switchable against the league's elite, oversized alpha dogs, Garrett's wiry strength and unrelenting intensity at 6-foot-6 should allow him to capably guard three positions at the next level. He plays bigger than his size as a backline help defender, too.
Garrett, the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year as a junior, failed to take the major strides offensively during his final season in Lawrence that would have propelled him up draft boards. A middling shooter at best from deep, Garrett fails to compensate with the off-dribble burst or finishing ability at the rim that would help him realistically project as much more than a defensive specialist.
But Portland could certainly use a backup guard who would wake up a sleeping defense every time he steps on the floor, and Garrett has some real feel as a passer He's an improved jumper away from a long NBA career off the bench, potential development certainly worth betting on for the Blazers if they nab a pick toward the bottom of the second round.