Blazers Must Decide on What Type of Wing Prospect to Select in NBA Draft

The Portland Trail Blazers have hosted wing prospects like Gary Trent Jr., Jacob Evans, and Khyri Thomas in workouts ahead of the NBA Draft. While guards have also passed through Portland’s doors, Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report believes a wing should be their selection. What type of wing Portland selects is the biggest draft question they need to answer, according to Buckley:

While Portland tied for eighth in defensive efficiency, perimeter point-prevention remains a focus as long as Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are occupying the same backcourt. And let’s not forget, this defense turned back into a pumpkin come playoff time, rating worse than anyone and making Jrue Holiday look like Michael Jordan.

However, this selection might not be as simple as grabbing a stopper and calling it a day. Not when the Blazers have struggled mightily to get their guards scoring help. Portland’s next-best scorers this past season were restricted free agent Jusuf Nurkic and 39.5 percent shooter Al-Farouq Aminu.

Ideally, the Blazers would leave the draft with a top-tier two-way wing, but how often do those fall to 24? They’re more likely looking at a specialist, whether it’s scoring (Musa, Huerter, Jerome Robinson), defending (Brown, De’Antony Melton) or three-and-D contributing (Hutchison, Frazier, Khyri Thomas, Jacob Evans).

You can read extensive draft profiles of wing prospects mentioned by Buckley here at Blazer’s Edge:

• Bruce Brown
• Jacob Evans
• Melvin Frazier
• Kevin Huerter
• Chandler Hutchison
• Dzanan Musa
• Khyri Thomas
• Jerome Robinson