Portland Trail Blazers NBA Mock Draft Round-Up

After the Portland Trail Blazers were eliminated from postseason contention Sunday, eyes in Rip City can officially shift to the NBA Draft on June 25-26.

All that’s really left to determine over Portland’s final three regular-season games is where the team will rank heading into May’s NBA Draft Lottery (oh, and the team needs to determine soon if head coach Chauncey Billups is sticking around, but that’s a topic for another day). As it stands this afternoon, the Blazers hold the ninth-worst record in the NBA, giving them the ninth-best odds in the lottery. But they could realistically fall anywhere from 9th to 12th by the time the regular season wraps up on Sunday.

With the offseason rapidly approaching, that means NBA Mock Draft season can kick off in earnest. Below, we’ve compiled a sampling of NBA mock drafts from different outlets, highlighting the prospects the Blazers select in each one. You’ll notice there’s not much of a consensus about prospect order toward the back-end of the lottery.

The Blazers’ shot at the No. 1 overall prospect Cooper Flagg is unlikely at this point, but it’s not completely dead. Just last season, the Atlanta Hawks held the ninth-best lottery odds and then shot up to No. 1. When the Blazers won the draft lottery in 2007 to select Greg Oden with the first pick, they held the seventh-best odds. However, these mock drafts are keeping things simple at this stage and have the Blazers selecting by draft lottery standings.

Yahoo Sports: No. 9, Kon Knueppel, G/F, Duke

In a mock draft updated this morning, Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor has Portland pick 6-foot-7 freshman guard Kon Knueppel out of Duke, giving the team a sharpshooting secondary creator.

Scoot Henderson has made some progress this season, but it’s still not clear if he’s capable of being the point guard of Portland’s future. Knueppel makes sense as a selection in this regard since he brings more than just a sharpshooter’s stroke thanks to his brainy pick-and-roll playmaking and crafty scoring feel. While he’s not a primary creator, he can be one of the team’s creators alongside Deni Avdija on the wing, Donovan Clingan from the high post, and Scoot in ball screens.

Bleacher Report: No. 9, Jase Richardson, G, Michigan State

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has the Blazers draft 6-foot-3 freshman guard Jase Richardson from Michigan State in a mock draft released on March 31.

Part of the reason [Richardson had] become so well regarded was because of his consistency. Even without a high-usage role, he had been a reliable source for shotmaking, finishing and high-energy plays.

It’s also become clear that he offers more creativity than the early numbers suggest. While he’s been incredibly efficient off the ball, he’s also been one of the nation’s most efficient ball-screen scorers thanks to his feel on drives, elite finishing and 49.1% pull-up shooting.

SB Nation: No. 9, Jase Richardson, G, Michigan State

In a mock draft updated this morning from our SB Nation mothership site, Ricky O’Donnell also has the Blazers draft Richardson.

The Ringer: No. 9, Kasparas Jakucionis, G, Illinois

The Ringer hasn’t released an official mock draft yet, but it has released draft prospect rankings (last updated today). At the No. 9 spot of the big board, the site placed Illinois 6-foot-6 freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis. The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann handled the scouting report for Jakucionis, tabbing the Lithuanian guard as a “high-feel orchestrator and playmaker.”

I love players who can rapidly “stack” actions. Players who know, instinctively, how to respond to whatever the defense is doing with rapid-fire decisions. Jakucionis, the Lithuanian guard who left FC Barcelona to star for Illinois this season, might be the best at it of anyone in this draft. He’s the type of role-malleable triple threat that every team in the league could use.

Jakucionis fits a flattering Euro stereotype for guards in that he has an almost joyous bobbing rhythm in the way he moves with the ball—a command for starting and stopping that really puts defenders in a less joyous place. Jakucionis, despite having credible size for his position, isn’t exceptionally long or blazingly fast. He does, however, have a low center of gravity and can be very quick from side to side or in situations when he suddenly bursts to attack after lulling his man into a spot.

Jakucionis is also a fantastic passer. In fact, I’d put him just a step or so behind BYU’s Egor Demin in terms of pure creativity.

The Athletic: No. 11, Liam McNeeley, Wing, Connecticut

In a mock draft released on March 28, hence why Portland is picking at 11th, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie (subscription required) has the Blazers select a Connecticut prospect for the second consecutive year. In his scouting report, Vecenie highlights the 6-foot-7 freshman Liam McNeeley as a polarizing prospect, but somebody who could space the floor for Portland.

McNeeley is yet another polarizing prospect. He averaged 14.5 points this year as a freshman and only shot 33.3 percent from 3 as a player renowned for his floor-spacing. McNeeley was also tasked with a role this season that he was capable of playing but not exactly ready for. He often got asked to play as almost a point wing for the Huskies, who just did not have strong enough guard play this season. A big part of it was that he isn’t a particularly good pull-up shooter and had to take several of those. Off the catch, McNeeley hit 38 percent from 3 this year, per Synergy, and has pristine mechanics that will translate at a very high level toward knocking down shots off movement. McNeeley is also very competitive on defense, although there are worries there, too, as he’s a bit slow-footed. The Blazers could use a true floor-spacer, especially if they end up moving Anfernee Simons this summer as he enters the last season of his contract in 2025-26.

A Few More…

So far, that’s five different outlets and four different prospects the Blazers could select with their first-round pick this summer. But that list gets more varied when you expand the search. NBADraft.net has the Blazers going for Texas 6-foot-6 freshman guard Tre Johnson with the No. 9 pick in its latest mock draft. Our friends at Tankathon send Georgia 6-foot-10 freshman forward Asa Newell to the Blazers at No. 9 in their most recent mock draft.

Until the ping pong powers that be award the Trail Blazers the No. 1 pick at the NBA Draft Lottery on May 12, study and form your own opinions about the six prospects above. Analyze and discuss with fellow Blazer’s Edge readers how they’d fit in Portland…just in case the universe doesn’t send Flagg our way.