With their win over the Phoenix Suns in the Play-In Tournament, the Portland Trail Blazers will now owe their first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft to the Chicago Bulls. It’s a product of the 2021 trade that sent Lauri Markkanen from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Bulls. Portland got back Larry Nance Jr., sending out Derrick Jones Jr. and a 2022 first-round pick.
However, that 2022 first-rounder was lottery-protected. In fact, the selection was lottery-protected through the 2028 season. But since the Blazers are now officially a playoff team this season, they will convey their first to Chicago. On the one hand, it’s been a long time coming. On the other hand, it’s unfortunate that the Blazers will now lose their first.
Still, getting playoff basketball in Portland is an overwhelmingly positive thing.
Play-In win means Blazers owe 2026 first-rounder to Bulls
In hindsight, trading a first-round pick for Nance wasn’t an ideal trade for the Blazers. He only spent half a year there before he was shipped to the New Orleans Pelicans in the CJ McCollum trade.
At the time, the Blazers were trying to field a competitive roster with McCollum and Damian Lillard leading the way, but obviously, that never really panned out.
Since then, the Blazers have completely reshaped their team. They went through a rebuild, drafted guys like Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Donovan Clingan, and traded for Deni Avdija and Jrue Holiday.
Portland’s current playoff roster looks completely different from the one it was trying to compete with when it traded for Nance. Lillard is still on the team, but he left and returned, getting traded (then waived and stretched) by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Now, all these years later, the Blazers are finally giving up their first-rounder. Had they made it to the 2028 season without being out of the lottery, the selection would have turned into a 2028 second-round pick.
Chicago needs the extra draft pick badly. From their perspective, the Markkanen trade was a mess. They gave up an eventual All-Star and didn’t get much in return.
However, they will finally reap some rewards from the Blazers now, and they are in a bad, bad place heading into the summer. They gutted their roster this year, but they didn’t get much in return for the guys they traded.
So, reflecting on the trade all those years ago, it definitely wasn’t ideal for the Blazers, especially in hindsight. But they have bounced back. The Cleveland Cavaliers have, too.
The Bulls? Not so much.
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