Grading the Last 5 Trailblazers 1st Round Picks #nba #nbadraft #trailblazers

Let’s grade the last five Portland Trailblazers first round picks. So, we’re not going to talk about Hansen Yang, but what a pick that was in the 2025 draft. So, we’re going to go back to the seventh overall pick in the 2024 draft where they took another center, and that was Donovan Klingan from Yukon. Going to give this one a B+. I wish Klingan got a little bit more playing time as a rookie, but he was going up against DeAndre Aiden and Rob Williams in that rotation. He still ended up playing a decent amount as a rookie. Looked like a great defender and shot blocker out there. I think he could be the franchise center for a long time in Portland. And then they had one of the biggest picks in franchise history basically since they took Damen Lillard, third overall pick in 2023. They ended up with Scoot Henderson. I’m going to give this pick a B minus. Honestly, this may be a little bit generous as well just because Amen. Thompson went one pick later. Scoot did not look great as a rookie. He didn’t really look great to start off year number two, but had a strong middle of the season as a sophomore. Now that they traded away Anthony Simons, I hope he looks even better in year three. And they traded Josh Hart that year as well. And they got the 23rd overall pick from the Knicks. They selected Chris Murray, the younger brother of Keegan Murray out of Iowa. Going to give this one a D. Doesn’t feel like he’s in their long-term plans anymore. They had the seventh overall pick in 2022. They basically took somebody out of high school since he didn’t play a single minute at Kentucky. Shaden Sharp, who has all the athleticism and potential in the world. Going to give this one a B+. I don’t want to give it an A minus yet. I just think Shaden Sharp could have shown a little bit more. And that’s partially due to some injuries he suffered. And lastly, we’re going to go back to 2019. They traded a lot of first to try to build a competitive roster around Dame. They took Nir Little with the 25th overall pick out of UNCC. Going to give this one a C++. He was a fine rotational player for Portland for four years and then he was later on in that Yousef Nerkage DeAndre Aiden deal. Let me know what team I should do this with