The Portland Trail Blazers are famed for a couple of large gaffes in the NBA Draft. In 1984 they selected Kentucky center Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, widely considered the greatest player of all time, give or take a LeBron James. In 2007 they took another center, Greg Oden, over Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant, a prime scoring star across a couple of NBA generations. Both pivots ended up injured, playing a limited number of games. Portland ended up like Charlie Brown on Halloween, getting a rock for all his
trick-or-treating efforts, except their rock crumbled on top of that.
Those wince-worthy events are far in the past now, though. The Blazers have turned over a new leaf. They’ve returned to the NBA playoffs. They field a young roster that they seem to be proud of. Everything is shiny and new?
But is it? What, exactly, is on the other side of that leaf?
The Blazers have arguably gone through three distinct eras in the last ten years. In 2016 they were trying to build around a strong backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. They’d continue that experiment in one way or another until 2023, when they traded Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks after failing to fashion a contending team around him. 2022-2025 could be considered a rebuilding era, as Lillard spent much of his final season in Portland injured and Portland opted to go with young players in his stead. Last year they hit the runway to re-ascension, starting what they hope is an upward swing. They’re investing in more established veterans, aiming for victories instead of lottery position.
The commonality between all the eras (even this new, ascending one if you consider future Milwaukee and Orlando picks) is a need to bolster the team via the draft. Why are the Blazers good or not? At least half of it comes down to their draft selections. And oh, do they tell a story.
As it turns out, no matter how many times Portland has flipped that leaf in the last decade, the other side has ended up semi-moldy and riddled with holes. Want to see what I mean? Let’s look at their track record over the last 10 years. For simplicity, we’re going to concentrate on the first pick each year, making note if other picks were significant. (Hint: they weren’t.)
2016
The Blazers had no picks in the 2016 NBA Draft. They traded their first-rounder—along with Will Barton, Víctor Claver, and Thomas Robinson—to the Denver Nuggets for Aron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee.
2017
This is the year the Blazers moved up from the 15th position to the 10th spot. From that vantage point they could have taken Bam Adebayo, Donovan Mitchell, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, or Derrick White, to name a few. Instead they selected Gonzaga center Zach Collins. He’s been a career bench player. He left the team in 2021 after a season0-long injury, playing for the Spurs and Bulls since.
With the 26th pick in 2017 the Blazers could have had White, Hart, Dillon Brooks, Kyle Kuzma, or Isaiah Hartenstein. Instead they selected Caleb Swanigan, who is no longer with the team.
2018
With the 24th pick in 2018 Portland took Florida-based guard Anfernee Simons. This was arguably a hit, as Simons would go on to score 20 per game once Lillard and McCollum passed onward from the roster. But Simons didn’t play defense and ultimately didn’t stick. He’s bounced around to several teams since the Blazers traded him in 2025.
2019
The 25th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft saw the Blazers select defensive-minded forward Nassir Little. No huge stars were selected after him in the order, but several serviceable NBA players were.
2020
Portland held the 16th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. They selected Isaiah Stewart of Detroit Pistons fame. Stewart got to the Pistons via Houston when the Blazers traded him four days after the draft, along with Trevor Ariza and a 2021 first-round pick, for Rockets forward Robert Covington. Covington played 118 games in Portland. So far Beef Stew has spent six seasons in Detroit. Tyrese Maxey, Jaden McDaniels, and Desmond Bane were all on the board at 15 instead.
In the second round, the Blazers selected guard CJ Elleby. Coveted OKC Thunder reserve Isaiah Joe went three picks later.
2021
The Blazers had no picks in 2021, having just traded theirs to the Rockets. Herb Jones, Ayo Dosunmu, and Cam Thomas would have all been available at Portland’s spot.
2022
This was the year Portland took a flyer on untried phenom Shaedon Sharpe with the 7th overall pick. Sharpe has played four years with the Blazers. He averaged 21 points per game last season. Yesterday, as of this posting, news broke that he will be out six months of the 2026-27 season with a meniscus tear. This will mark the third time in five seasons that he will have played 50 or fewer games.
2023
The Blazers got a lottery promotion in 2023, selecting heralded point guard Scoot Henderson with the 3rd overall pick. After a disastrous rookie campaign, Henderson developed a three-point shot and off-ball skills, morphing him into a decent multi-purpose guard. He played only 30 games in his third year due to a hamstring injury. He is currently slated behind a returned Lillard, Ja Morant, and Jrue Holiday in Portland’s point guard depth chart.
2024
Again selecting 7th in the draft, Portland snagged center Donovan Clingan, their current starter and one of the only semi-proven players coming out of a maligned draft class. Given their position, this might be the only draft in the whole decade which could be considered a clear win for the Blazers.
2025
Portland held the 11th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. They had the option to select Derik Queen, Cedric Coward, or Carter Bryant, all of whom have shown flashes of promise over their young careers. Instead the Blazers traded down to 16, then took wildcard center Yang Hansen from China. Hansen had a poor statistical start to his career and is currently the fourth center in Portland’s depth chart.
2026
The Blazers had no pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, having relinquished their first-rounder to the Bulls as compensation for a 2021 trade for Larry Nance, Jr. The veteran forward played 37 games in Portland before being liquidated in the same deal that sent McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2022.
Summation
If you wonder why the Blazers aren’t better than they are, draft history tells much of the story. Their two biggest wins were Anfernee Simons and Donovan Clingan, only one of whom remains with the team. Their recent lottery picks secured Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, both of whom have had stop-and-go starts to their careers and both of whom have suffered significant injuries. Other than that, the Blazers have either traded away their draft picks for veterans who ultimately served little purpose or squandered their picks on players who never panned out, passing over some of the more coveted role players in the league (and the occasional semi-star) in the process.
If Portland wants to turn around their fortunes, accelerate their growth, or whatever they want to call their stabs at improvement this season, the upward trend will need to start with better discernment in the draft. Following that, a little better injury luck would sure help! Unless or until those two things happen, the trip to the top of the hill will be like jogging up a sand dune. Even if you manage it, the payoff is limited. And either way, somebody else is going to get there faster.
