Weird week ends with 7th and 14th picks

The Blazers had an unusual week just before the start of draft season, ending with a lower pick than expected.

With the playoffs taking center stage for the past month, the affairs of the Blazers were pretty quiet. On Sunday, fans were re-engaged during the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery where the Blazers had just over a 13% chance to get the No. 1 pick. Instead, the Blazers, who were tied with the Charlotte Hornets for the 3rd worst record in the league, got the 7th pick and the 14th pick (via Golden State, part of the Jrue Holiday trade). With the lottery results, the Blazers officially hold the 7th, 14th, 34th and 40th picks in the 2024 Draft.

During the NCAA tournament I asked a draft scout who I trust who he would take if he had the No. 1 pick, and his immediate response was that he would trade it. “Even for Alex Sarr?” I asked him. But it was clear that he had thought about this many more times than I have. Yes, even for Alex Sarr.

I thought about that answer for the weeks after and wondered if that was feasible if Portland landed the No. 1 pick. But if that opinion is widespread among the scouting community, then trading the pick and getting value for it would be near impossible.

All of that is to say, while it is disappointing to see such a futile season end with the 7th pick, practically speaking this is not the worst draft to fall in the lottery. The draft many have compared this class to is the 2013 Draft, in which the best players in the class came with picks 10 (CJ McCollum), 15 (Giannis Antetokounmpo) and 27 (Rudy Gobert). So while it is a drag in the immediate, having a pick later in the lottery could end up being more valuable.

I’ll forgive you if you call the above “cope.” For the reward of one of the worst seasons in franchise history to be the 7th pick is a major letdown. And you’d rather have the first choice, salary scale of the first pick be damned, to choose who you think is the best guy.

But no matter where they’re picking, it’s important to remember that the Blazers have Mike Schmitz. Everyone else doesn’t.

The OTHER weird Blazers thing from this week…

The Blazers falling from the top 4 into 7th was only the latest piece of news from the week, but it was far from the only one. On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated Senior Writer Chris Mannix tweeted out an interesting news item, suggesting that other NBA teams were “monitoring” the situation with Chauncey Billups and the Blazers, citing recent changes to the coaching staff, which included not bringing back two assistant coaches: lead assistant Scott Brooks and Chauncey’s brother, Rodney, who had been a player development coach for the last few seasons.

A day later, Yahoo’s Jake Fischer suggested that Billups had the support of Phoenix Suns players as a candidate to take over for Frank Vogel. Fischer was not the only one who connected the dots between Billups and the Suns after the Vogel firing was announced, but that story was short-lived as the Suns hired former Bucks and Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer.

ESPN showed Billups on-camera during Sunday’s lottery, so he’s with the rest of the team’s staffers as they prepare for this week’s combine. But it remains abnormal at best that the Blazers' current head coach was rumored to be a head coach candidate for another team to the point that players on that team were politicking for him behind the scenes.

That’s just A LITTLE BIT awkward. Perhaps last week’s rumors were just a classic case of NBA gossip that got blown out of proportion. But there’s also a non-zero chance that Billups and the organization are no longer as aligned as they have been the past two summers.