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Portland Trail Blazers to start pre-draft workouts Friday

By Nate Mann

LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 30: Chandler Hutchison #15 of the Boise State Broncos looks on against the UNLV Rebels during the second half of the game at the Thomas & Mack Center on December 30, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Boise State won 83-74. (Photo by David J. Becker/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 30: Chandler Hutchison #15 of the Boise State Broncos looks on against the UNLV Rebels during the second half of the game at the Thomas & Mack Center on December 30, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Boise State won 83-74. (Photo by David J. Becker/Getty Images) /
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The Portland Trail Blazers may be active on draft night in terms of moving picks around for the second straight year.

Two fresh news stories released in the past few hours regarding the Portland Trail Blazers and the 2018 Draft. The first involves Chandler Hutchison (again) and the second is draft prospect workout dates.

Chandler Hutchison

Blazers fans quickly fell in love with Chandler Hutchison. He’s a two-way, lengthy wing fitting all of the team’s needs. He trained with Damian Lillard in previous offseasons, as well as worked with Lillard’s player development coach from Weber State.

Related Story: Chandler Hutchison and Damian Lillard connections

However, Hutchison backed out of the draft combine one day before its start. Doing so generally means a team in or before a player’s projected draft range made him a promise.

The Boise State guard/forward was projected to go in the early 20s. A promise from Portland at No. 24 seems too late to drop the combine for. Also, Neil Olshey spoke about how he doesn’t make promises to potential draft picks for moral reasons.

But recent discussions on ESPN’s Mock Draft Special by Adrian Wojnarowski give Rip City hope. He said that the promise “could very well be Portland.” Other teams are interested, like the Chicago Bulls at No. 22 and Indiana Pacers at No. 23, though.

Wojnarowski also says, “there’s some teams who think, ‘If we want to get Hutchison, we’re gonna have to move up into that 19, 20, 21 range to get him.’”

So if the Blazers really want Chandler Hutchison, they could move a player and a pick for an earlier selection. The Atlanta Hawks (19), Minnesota Timberwolves (20) and Utah Jazz (21) have those draft spots.

Player Workouts

Player workouts have begun, a few of which involving prospects the Blazers have expressed interest in. From beat reporter Casey Holdahl, Portland will begin its own pre-draft workouts on Friday.

Since the combine, a list of players reportedly plan to work out with the Blazers. Here’s the list so far:

  • Landry Shamet (G) – Wichita State
  • Bruce Brown Jr. (G) – Miami
  • Gary Trent Jr. (G) – Duke
  • Troy Brown (F) – Oregon

Keep in mind that the Portland can still select a player it didn’t work out. Last season, Zach Collins didn’t work out with the Blazers yet they traded picks to get him at No. 10. Also, Jordan Bell said his best workout was with Portland, but the team selected Caleb Swanigan instead.

Next: After Twitter account fiasco, Olshey not worst GM in league

Stay tuned for a more complete list of names working out with the Blazers on Friday.

Hopefully the team can find a way to draft Chandler Hutchison, but most importantly Neil Olshey needs to draft a 3-and-D forward.