The Trail Blazers weren’t as lucky as they could have been, but they were probably lucky enough.
Portland, with the fifth-best odds, ended up outperforming their percentage to secure the third overall pick at the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday night in Chicago.
“You always want to win the whole thing,” said Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin to reporters after the Lottery. “Moving up to three is a big win for our organization.”
San Antonio won the Lottery to secure the top overall pick at the 2023 Draft, with Charlotte getting the second pick, Houston getting the fourth pick and Detroit falling to fifth despite finishing the 2022-23 season with the worst record.
The Trail Blazers had just a 10.6 percent chance of winning the third pick, compared to a 19.6 percent chance of getting the sixth pick or a 26.7 percent chance of the seventh pick. But with Brandon Roy reprising his role as the team’s Lottery representative, just as he did in 2007 when Portland won the Lottery, the Trail Blazers were able to buck the odds to greatly improve their stockpile of assets going into a pivotal offseason.
"We'll see, the market will tell, but I think three is significant,” said Cronin. “There's going to be some really good players available at three that could be great for us or somebody else depending on how we approach this draft.”
Portland now has the third, 23rd (from the Knicks) and 43rd (from the Hawks) picks in the 2023 Draft, giving Cronin and his staff the option of selecting multiple young players, using those picks in trades or a combination of the two as they look to build a team around Damian Lillard and return to the postseason after a two-season hiatus.
The Trail Blazers’ front office will stick around in Chicago for the Draft Combine, after which they’ll return to Portland to begin the next stage of their preparation for the 2023 Draft, which will likely include a host of workouts at their facility in Tualatin.
The 2023 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.