The Portland Trail Blazers Greatest Draft Pick Ever

A colleague is working on a piece about the best draft picks in the history of each sports franchise, the better to mash them up and compare across impossible boundaries. When he asked me for Portland's best pick ever, I hemmed and hawed. I can think of at least three or four possible candidates, depending on criteria. No dice. We need one. So I put him off for a couple days by promising to take it to the people.

Who was the best draft pick in the history of this franchise? You can use any measure that you wish: brilliant first-overall selections that changed the course of history, that second-round value pick who ended up an icon, or anything in between. Players who are traded for on draft day do count as draft picks of the team they were traded to. Jerryd Bayless, for instance, counts as Portland's pick even though he wasn't selected at their natural spot in '08.

Make suggestions in the comments. We might go with popular vote or we might go with most persuasive argument. Let's see how it falls out. Make your selection known!

--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)