The good news is the Portland Trail Blazers are finally free from the Neil Olshey era. The bad news is, they are the only team without a single pick in what many analysts deem a stacked 2026 draft class.
Portland making the playoffs was a double-edged sword. Their first-round selection (No. 15 overall) will now be conveyed to the Chicago Bulls as part of the questionable Larry Nance Jr. trade in 2021.
The Blazers' quick playoff exit at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs showed just how far this team has to go before being considered a legitimate contender. They made the postseason to gain valuable experience for their young core, yet many of those supposed building blocks saw their minutes and role diminish in the series.
Blazers' young core still has a limited ceiling
It exposed flaws in the Blazers' former first-round picks, starting with the Shaedon Sharpe selection in 2022, which was expected to catalyze this entire rebuild. Sharpe said he was fully healthy at his exit interview, making Tiago Splitter's decision to play him an average of 13.4 minutes per game all the more concerning.
Their highest pick, Scoot Henderson, was wildly inconsistent. He showed flashes of upside at the beginning of the series, but Portland still enters the offseason with more questions than answers after he disappeared, totaling just five points in the final two contests.
Then there's the Donovan Clingan selection the following year. An underwhelming series against Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama shouldn't diminish what was overall a strong second season. But it does raise questions about what Portland's plan of attack is when it comes to building a roster to match up with this Spurs team going forward.
The Blazers will have to deal with San Antonio for the next decade, meaning the path to the Finals will eventually have to go through Wembanyama. Robert Williams III was relatively more effective in the series matchup, but Portland still lacks a long-term solution to their alien problem.
Blazers look to get out of no-man's land
After making the postseason, the Blazers could accelerate their rebuilding timeline further this offseason. They've proven too good to bottom out, and need to upgrade their roster to escape this no-man's land they find themselves in. This two-timeline approach is making it all the more challenging, and losing your pick when you need to continue adding to the young core certainly doesn't help.
New owner Tom Dundon will evaluate this roster and explore avenues for Portland to upgrade. But he's mentioned that the Blazers either need to make a splash big enough to propel them into that tier of contenders or consider taking a step back.
"You’ve got to go about finding the pieces to continue to get better, and then decide if you can do good enough to win a championship or you have to take a step back. Joe and I have talked about this a lot. There’s no one way this is going to go for sure," Dundon said at his introductory press conference.
That's the right approach, and I'm ultimately skeptical the Blazers will find a superstar offer intriguing enough to make that large a leap. Giannis Antetokounmpo would be the exception to put them on the verge of contention. Still, even he's skeptical Portland's roster would be good enough, making it that much harder for the Blazers to get a long-term commitment from him.
Fans are understandably eager to see this team upgrade the roster now that the franchise is back to its winning ways. But it wouldn't be all that surprising if Portland decides to take a step back to better prepare them to take two steps forward later on. General manager Joe Cronin has consistently emphasized a patient, long-term outlook, and missing out on this draft means they need to find other ways to improve that future.
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