The Portland Trail Blazers made their playoff push at exactly the wrong time.
By reaching the postseason for the first time in their rebuild, Portland let a lottery-protected first-round pick owed to the Chicago Bulls from the Larry Nance Jr. trade finally convey. And it landed in what looks like a loaded 2026 draft class.
The top of the board has already lived up to the hype. AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson have all flashed why they were viewed as a tier apart from the rest of the class.
Portland’s own slice of that draft picture didn’t sting quite as much through the Bulls’ No. 15 selection, Dailyn Swain, but the fit question is still hard to ignore. In a different scenario, it would have been surprising if the Blazers used that kind of pick on another non-shooter like the Texas wing.
There were other names that would have made more sense for what Portland needs. Bennett Stirtz has looked NBA-ready and could have given the Blazers another backcourt answer as the long-awaited Malcolm Brogdon replacement.
Baylor’s Cameron Carr has looked like a steal for the Los Angeles Lakers and would have fit Portland’s shooting issues. And if the Blazers had stayed out of the postseason, they would have been picking higher than No. 15, which could have opened the door for someone like Hannes Steinbach to bolster the frontcourt and help on the defensive glass.
Any of those players would have been a welcome addition to a young core that still feels like it needs one or two more pieces.
That’s the tension with Portland’s decision. The playoff run brought real short-term upside, including a winning environment and valuable postseason reps for the team’s young players. But there’s a reason so many teams leaned into the tank for this class, and why the NBA moved quickly with anti-tanking measures and lottery changes.
While teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, and Utah Jazz went in the opposite direction, they came away with players such as Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, Cameron Boozer, and Darryn Peterson. Those are the kinds of prospects that can alter a franchise’s trajectory.
Portland’s own core was too good in the 2025-26 season to completely bottom out, so a player like Boozer or Peterson was probably never truly within reach. Even so, the fallout from the playoff push is showing up in summer league, where the Blazers are left putting a lot of developmental weight on the uncertain Yang Hansen basket.
There is one bright spot ahead: Portland still has future picks from the Milwaukee Bucks, and those picks have become much more valuable after the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster.
But the bigger question remains. Did the Blazers move too soon? Right now, they sit in a tricky middle ground - a first-round playoff team without a rookie to point to, and a roster that now has even more pressure on its young players to keep growing toward contention.
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Jrue Holiday Suddenly Holds The Key To Portlands Backcourt Mess
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Nori has plenty of options to weigh as he tries to fit the roster together, and the ripple effect reaches the starting group as much as the bench. Holidays ability to adapt gives Portland flexibility in a situation that could easily become awkward, especially with several players competing for the same minutes and roles still very much in flux. [Read more 🡒]