Trail Blazers News: Portland Hosts 6 Draft Prospects, Including Possible Lottery Pick

The Blazers are looking at all comers.

Mar 31, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Jared McCain (0) loses control of the ball against North Carolina State Wolfpack forward Ben Middlebrooks (34) in the second half in the finals of the South Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at American Airline Center. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Portland Trail Blazers are now in the thick of 2024 NBA Draft prep, with just over three weeks until tip off. Portland possesses two picks on each day of the draft: the Nos. 7 and 14 selections in the lottery, and the Nos. 34 and 40 picks in the second round.

To wit, the club hosted All-Big East St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins, three-time All-Big Sky Weber State forward Dillon Jones, All-Pac-12 Stanford forward Spencer Jones, All-ACC Duke freshman guard Jared McCain (considered the No. 15-best prospect in the draft, per Jeremy Woo and Jonathan Givony's latest ESPN mock), plus a pair of international prosects in JA Vichy-Clermont swingman Noah Penda and Ada Blois forward Armel Traoré, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.

McCain seems like a potential fit at pick No. 14 for Portland, and clearly is expected to be selected right within that range. The 6-foot-3 native out of Corona, California averaged 14.3 points on .462/.414/.885 shooting splits (that 41.4 percent three point rate came on a whopping 5.8 triple tries), five rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.1 steals. Beyond McCain, a lot of these other NBA hopefuls slot into the positions that the club kind of needs to address at some point soon, given that its timeline needs to be reconfigured around intriguing young guards like Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. Veteran forwards like Jerami Grant and Matisse Thybulle don't seem to be long for this roster.

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