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NBA Draft 2018 is on the way. What will the Portland Trail Blazers do … ?

By Matt George Moore

NEW YORK - JUNE 26: Then-NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver announces the Portland Trail Blazers' second round pick during the 2008 NBA Draft at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden June 26, 2008 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK - JUNE 26: Then-NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver announces the Portland Trail Blazers' second round pick during the 2008 NBA Draft at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden June 26, 2008 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The 2018 NBA Draft gets underway Thursday at 4 p.m. PDT.  Do you know what your favorite team — and your favorite fan site — will be doing?

The future of the NBA — and the Portland Trail Blazers — will be on display Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The 2018 NBA draft will be broadcast live on ESPN and NBA TV starting at 4 p.m. PDT.

One of the tried-and-true traditions heading into the draft — well, definitely tried, although not necessarily true — is making predictions as to which players will go to which teams. I don’t do predictions. (OK, sometimes I do predictions, but it’s pretty rare for me.)

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But I like to read predictions written by other people. And fortunately for me, I happen to work for a fan site that publishes a bunch of smart and informed people who are quite happy to make predictions.

More from Blazers Draft

Before I get to those, though, I want to point you toward a couple of stories we did on the No. 24 pick itself, which is where the Blazers will be staking their claim to the future (barring any draft-night trades).

First of all, the No. 24 pick has been pretty good for Portland. Both Terry Porter and Hall-of-Famer Arvydas Sabonis were the 24th pick in the draft. And that slot in the draft has also brought other quality players to the NBA: Shabazz Napier; Kyle Lowry; Derek Fisher; Latrell Sprewell, to name a few.

Blazers

So who might the Blazers pick?

We’ve written about Louisville’s Ray Spalding, a 6-foot-10 center. As we wrote in that piece:

"Mock drafts have Ray Spalding going in the late second round or even undrafted. The Blazers won’t use pick No. 24 on him, but he becomes a possibility if the team trades for a second rounder."

Who else is on the RCP radar?

How about Moritz Wagner, a 6-foot-11, 245-pound forward out of Michigan? We like him.

"Mo Wagner would be a great fit for this Portland system. As an excellent three-point shooter and a solid defender, Mo can contribute and make the Blazers better from day one."

Next: Why Kawhi won’t be a Portland Trail Blazer

Finally, we compiled a list of five players that Portland might be thinking about.

Should be a fun night. Make sure you come to the RCP for the latest news on draft night. And don’t forget to lock in our Twitter feed right now.