Groupthink 2023 Mock Draft: Picks #23 (Portland!)

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Which player should the Blazers take at 23?

  • Total voters
    24
  • Poll closed .
Ed O

Ed O

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(For the purposes of this exercise as we head to draft day, we assume no trades will be made/the draft order is set.)

Previous picks:
  1. Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio)
  2. Scoot Henderson (Charlotte)
  3. Brandon Miller (Portland)
  4. Amen Thompson (Houston)
  5. Cam Whitmore (Detroit)
  6. Ausar Thompson (Orlando)
  7. Jerace Walker (Indiana)
  8. Taylor Hendricks (Washington)
  9. Anthony Black (Utah)
  10. Gradey Dick (Dallas)
  11. Bilal Coulibaly (Orlando)
  12. Derek Lively (OKC)
  13. Cason Wallace (Toronto)
  14. Nick Smith (New Orleans)
  15. Leonard Miller (Atlanta)
  16. Jordan Hawkins (Utah)
  17. Kobe Bufkin (Lakers)
  18. Keyonte George (Miami)
  19. Kris Murray (Golden State)
  20. Jalen Hood-Schifino (Houston)
  21. Brice Sensabaugh (New Jersey)
  22. Noah Clowney (New Jersey)
  23. James Nnaji (Portland)
(edited to show final result)
 
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Feels like this would be traded for bench depth if it shook out this way. Would've LOVED Clowney or Hood-Schifino.

Not deep enough with this draft, which of these dudes has the highest ceiling? That'd be my pick...
 
Prosper is still there so I voted for him but given the fact that we don't have a backup C and what Trayce Jackson-Davis brings to the table I would probably draft him or try to trade back to closer to where he is on our board and get another pick or something.
 
blazerkor said:
Prosper is still there so I voted for him but given the fact that we don't have a backup C and what Trayce Jackson-Davis brings to the table I would probably draft him or try to trade back to closer to where he is on our board and get another pick or something.
Click to expand...
I voted for Prosper, too, because he's bigger than most of the other guys I like. And while Jackson-Davis is a big guy, he seems so ground bound and old that I can't imagine he'd make much of an impact.

The thing is, if we took Miller at #3, then I might go for Whitehead, which somehow dropped off the options in this poll. I just added him back in and changed my vote, since this assumes we took Miller at 3, which makes Whitehead a better fit for us as a prospect.
 
blazerkor said:
I also like Nnaji and if we're picking Scoot and keeping him we might as well go for upside and he is the upside pick.
Click to expand...

Without knowing what vets we could actually get for the pick, it obviously makes the decision harder, but given the choices, I don't see ANY rookie -- barring a really good one falling for some reason -- from making an immediate impact with Dame or not. So in a "rookies only" scenario, I'd go Nnaji either way.

People as big as he is do not move like he does.
 
CJ_is_Gone said:
Nnaji
Click to expand...

I think Nnaji will go before #23, but if not, and you are keeping the pick, I'd absolutely take him here. His measurables are off the chart. He started playing bball late, but has made incredible strides. Good footwork, insane length and pretty mobile for as big as he is. Big time upside and Cronin likes that.
 
Didn't we have to trade Josh Hart for this pick, because it was vitally important not to give Chicago their owned 1st rounder ??

I'm confused
 
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Whyachi said:
Didn't we have to trade Josh Hart for this pick, because it was vitally important in to give Chicago their owned 1st rounder ??

I'm confused
Click to expand...
Should we skip this pick, then?
 
If we keep the #3 pick is it more or less likely we trade this pick?

I guess it probably comes down to Dame. If he has accepted staying here next year with #3 maybe we trade #23 for a vet. Sort of similar to last summer adding Sharpe and Grant. But if Dame might want a trade it seems silly to trade #23 for a vet only to deeply regret that two weeks later.
 
Not clear who won this since I didn't have James Nnaji listed since I hadn't seen him as a first rounder in any mock drafts and I only counted five "other" comments for Nnaji in the thread. I'll break the draw between him and Jaquez by saying it's Nnaji.
 
I think you either trade the pick or you go get someone with length something this team is missing.
 
or we have a Chi deal and get out future pick back, or the often mentioned Simons/23 for DDR and our pick back
 
Bumping this as I just started the 2024 edition... here's a reminder of where we landed last year (with first team and second team all-rookie teams indicated):
  1. Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio) (FIRST)
  2. Scoot Henderson (Charlotte)
  3. Brandon Miller (Portland) (FIRST)
  4. Amen Thompson (Houston) (SECOND)
  5. Cam Whitmore (Detroit)
  6. Ausar Thompson (Orlando)
  7. Jerace Walker (Indiana)
  8. Taylor Hendricks (Washington)
  9. Anthony Black (Utah)
  10. Gradey Dick (Dallas)
  11. Bilal Coulibaly (Orlando)
  12. Derek Lively (OKC) (SECOND)
  13. Cason Wallace (Toronto) (SECOND)
  14. Nick Smith (New Orleans)
  15. Leonard Miller (Atlanta)
  16. Jordan Hawkins (Utah)
  17. Kobe Bufkin (Lakers)
  18. Keyonte George (Miami) (SECOND)
  19. Kris Murray (Golden State)
  20. Jalen Hood-Schifino (Houston)
  21. Brice Sensabaugh (New Jersey)
  22. Noah Clowney (New Jersey)
  23. James Nnaji (Portland)
We collectively slept on Jaquez and Podziemski (both first teamers) and GG Jackson. I still remain extremely bullish on Scoot, fwiw :)

In terms of Nnaji, he didn't take a step forward statistically, at least, this past year:

upload_2024-6-12_8-34-6.png
 
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