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Early Wednesday morning, reports came in stating that the Portland Trail Blazers are looking to get into the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft.
According to @WojVerticalNBA, the @trailblazers would like to get into the first round 'if the opportunity strikes' https://t.co/RJwbhUglO5
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) June 22, 2016
According to Adrian Wojnarowski (via ForwardCenter.net) the draft looks set up for some movement in the post lottery and into the 20's.
...there's teams outside of the first round — Portland, Brooklyn, Houston — who, if the opportunity strikes, would like to get in. If there's a player that they want who's lingering there in the early 20s and they think they can get at him, then they potentially make a deal on draft night.
This is one, I think, especially with the multiple picks, I think you might agree, that we're going to see a lot of movement. Teams jumping out, teams jumping in. The way the mock draft looks right now, I think it's going to look very different Thursday night by 10 o'clock.
This of course falls directly in line with reporting from The Oregonian's Mike Richman on Tuesday who reminded readers and Blazers fans who owns the team.
"We always have a draft pick," Blazers President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey said in May. "We work for Paul Allen."
It appears at this time that there is a lot of smoke around Portland moving into the first round of the draft Thursday evening. What's unknown at this time is what exactly it could cost the Trail Blazers to move into that position.