Portland Trail Blazers Take Liam McNeeley in Yahoo NBA Mock Draft

The NBA Draft is now officially just a week away on June 25-26. Despite the close proximity of the big event, there still seems to be little consensus surrounding who the Portland Trail Blazers will target with their No. 11 overall pick.

Case in point, take the latest mock draft from Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports. O’Connor has the Trail Blazers selecting Connecticut 6-foot-7 freshman forward Liam McNeeley at the 11th spot, speculating the club could use some extra shooting.

The Trail Blazers could be targeting a shooter with this pick after ranking 24th in 3-point percentage and in the middle of the pack in attempts last season. McNeeley is a sharpshooting wing with superb instincts moving without the ball and the touch to splash from deep ranges. Though he doesn’t project as a primary shot creator, his feel as a connective passer gives him the skill to fit into any type of offense.

During his lone season at UConn, McNeeley averaged 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 38.1% from the field, 31.7% on 3s, and 86.6% from the free throw line.

While McNeeley fits a clear need for the Blazers and brings good size with him, I was shocked to see O’Connor put him this high in the mock. Throughout mock draft season, McNeeley hasn’t been projected to land in the lottery, with most sites putting him in the late-teens-to-low-20s range. The latest mock drafts from the Athletic, ESPN, and the Ringer have McNeeley coming off the board at pick Nos. 21, 20, and 19, respectively. Even O’Connor has the UConn product ranked No. 24 in his prospect rankings, so it would seem he had Portland drafting for fit rather than the best player available in this case.

McNeeley did stop by Portland for a pre-draft workout this spring. He was a part of that workout on May 29 that was flush with first-round talent, so clearly McNeeley is on Portland’s radar. It just seems if the Blazers really liked the 6-foot-7 shooter above the rest of the field, they could trade down in the draft and still have a good chance of getting him.

Now, enjoy this 14-minute highlight video of McNeeley’s freshman season (perhaps pay special attention to the 7:45 mark, where you can watch McNeeley drop a season-high 38 against Creighton on the road):