Sports Column

Trade No. 13

On Sports • Wise Blazer move is to deal for a veteran

By dwight jaynes

The Portland Tribune, May 23, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (43 Reader comments)

The draft lottery was Tuesday and already you can find mock drafts all over the Internet. Everywhere, people are speculating which teams will select which players.

I’m not playing that game this year. At least when it comes to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Seriously, what’s the point?

In my heart of hearts, I don’t think they’re going to make that No. 13 pick — and if they do, the player they select will be for another team as part of a trade. The Blazers are just too smart to waste a reasonably decent pick on a player who isn’t likely going to be good enough to knock the team’s top eight players out of the rotation.

A long time ago, someone told me, “If you can’t draft a player any better than the people you have on your team right now, don’t bother using the pick. Trade it.”

I think it’s sound advice.

Even if you can’t come up with a major player, a difference-maker, in a trade, it’s probably wise to move the pick, along with someone on the team’s bench (Sergio Rodriguez? Jarrett Jack?) who won’t figure to play as much this season with the expected arrival of Rudy Fernandez.

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