The Portland Trail Blazers picked an inopportune time to make the playoffs for the first time of their rebuild. Their lottery-protected pick owed to the Chicago Bulls from the Larry Nance Jr. trade finally conveyed, and it just so happened to be in what appears to be a stacked 2026 draft class.
The headliners have been as good as advertised, as AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson have already shown why they were widely considered in a tier of their own.
While the Bulls' Dailyn Swain selection with the No. 15 overall pick via Portland hasn't quite directly made the Blazers regret their playoff push, in this what-if scenario, it would've been surprising if they selected another non-shooter like the Texas wing.
Bennett Stirtz looks NBA-ready and would've given them yet another option in the backcourt as their long-overdue Malcolm Brogdon replacement. Baylor's Cameron Carr looks like a steal for the Los Angeles Lakers and would've been a great fit for Portland's shooting woes. They also would've been higher up than No. 15 had they not reached the postseason, opening the door for someone like Hannes Steinbach to add more frontcourt depth and help with their defensive rebounding.
Any of these prospects would've been a great addition to the Blazers' young core, which still feels a piece or two away.
The Blazers' young core is still a piece or two away
The playoff push was exciting in the short term, and there are certainly perks to that decision, like establishing a winning culture and giving Portland's youth more experience so they are battle-tested in a playoff setting. Still, there's a reason that nearly a third of the league was tanking for this draft class to the point where the NBA immediately implemented anti-tanking policies and changes to the lottery odds.
Portland zigged when Western Conference teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, and Utah Jazz zagged. The respective results are potentially franchise-altering prospects: Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, Cameron Boozer, and Darryn Peterson.
Portland's building blocks proved in the 2025-26 season that they were too talented to bottom out entirely, meaning someone like Boozer or Peterson was likely never a realistic option. Still, we are feeling the aftermath of the Blazers' playoff push in summer league, putting all the developmental eggs in an uncertain Yang Hansen basket.
At least Portland has its picks from the Milwaukee Bucks to look forward to in the coming seasons. Ones that have drastically increased in value following the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster, for that matter.
Still, we can't help but wonder if the Blazers should've been a bit more patient in their rebuild. They currently find themselves in no man's land as a first-round playoff team with no rookie to look forward to, putting a lot of pressure on their current group of young players to develop and reach contention.
They could've used a late-lottery prospect like Lendeborg, Johnson Jr., or Steinbach to continue to ascend the Western Conference. One that will only be even stronger next season now that these teams have found what they were looking for in the draft.
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