Unless you're one of the few individuals with the ability to transcend time and space, assigning grades to a team's draft performance any time within the first few months of the selection is, by and large, an exercise in futility. While there are certainly rare cases in which one can state emphatically that a draft selection is an unqualified success, such as the Cavaliers selecting LeBron James with the first overall pick, or failure, like when the Timberwolves selected Tanguy Ngombo, who was five years older than Minnesota realized and not draft eligible, it's all but impossible to divine the quality of an NBA career before it has even had a chance to start. That fact sure doesn't stop people from trying, but while it's not and especially useful, there's no real harm to it either.
So with that out of the way, here's how those who cover the NBA Draft graded the Trail Blazers' performance in Wednesday night's event, which saw Portland select Washington's Isaiah Stewart (reportedly as a part of the deal to acquire Robert Covington from Houston) with the 16th overall pick and Washington State wing CJ Elleby with the 46th pick.
• John Hollinger and Sam Vecenie, The Athletic...
• Scott Gleeson, USA Today...
• Colin Ward-Henninger, CBS Sports...
• Gerald Bourguet, Fansided...
• Greg Joyce, New York Post...
• Michael Shapiro, SI.com...
• Zach Buckley, Bleacher Report...