3.) The 2006 NBA Draft
It is hard to point to one moment that changed the entire course of the Trail Blazers this decade, but the 2006 draft has to be close. The beloved late nineties team was a distant memory, and the toxic wasteland of the “Jail Blazers” was still the calling card of Portland basketball. The 2006 draft night was about to change this forever.
Draft day trades saw Portland swap Tyrus Thomas for LaMarcus Aldridge, and Randy Foye for Brandon Roy. Roy inspired hope in a tortured city, and Aldridge went on to be one of the best statistical Trail Blazers ever.