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Which Young Star Would You Add to the Blazers?

If you could make a hypothetical one-time move to add a young star to the Trail Blazers, who would you choose?

By Steve Dewald
San Antonio Spurs v New Orleans Pelicans Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

The Trail Blazers have enjoyed nearly a decade of success with star guard Damian Lillard at the helm. Lillard, who turned 30 earlier this year, has blossomed into a perennial NBA All-Star, elite scorer and a marketing force. Despite an impressive individual billing, Lillard’s Blazers have failed to escape the first round of the playoffs on four separate occasions (out of seven trips).

To be clear, Lillard is not to blame for Portland’s penchant for exiting the postseason early. Now with a star firmly in his prime, the Blazers need to thread the needle when they attempt to build a talented roster around Lillard. That detailed discussion will unfold over the coming months once the free agent and trade markets come into focus.

For today, we look at a purely hypothetical situation: if you could put a young super star next to Lillard, who would you choose? As a starting point, here is a look at a survey that HoopsHype delivered to 15 NBA talent evaluators. In that survey, HoopsHype asked those talent evaluators who they would choose if they had to build a team around a single player that is under 25 years old.

It wasn’t a shock that Mavericks star Luka Doncic took the top billing, but former Duke standout Zion Williamson did raise eyebrow by landing at No. 7 on the list. Here is a quick look at the results from the survey from HoopsHype:

  1. Luka Doncic (Mavs)
  2. Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
  3. Devin Booker (Suns)
  4. Ja Morant (Grizzlies)
  5. Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)*
  6. Bam Adebayo (Heat)*
  7. Zion Williamson (Pelicans)

*Indicates players that finished with identical results in the survey

Choosing from that list, who would you add to the Blazers in a hypothetical one-time move?

Poll

Which young star would you add to the Blazers?

This poll is closed

  • 34%
    Luka Doncic
    (419 votes)
  • 34%
    Jayson Tatum
    (420 votes)
  • 3%
    Devin Booker
    (41 votes)
  • 1%
    Ja Morant
    (19 votes)
  • 1%
    Donovan Mitchell
    (19 votes)
  • 13%
    Bam Adebayo
    (169 votes)
  • 8%
    Zion Williamson
    (104 votes)
  • 1%
    Other (explain in comments)
    (20 votes)
1211 votes total Vote Now

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