Portland Draft Picks: The Bad, The Good, and the We're Still Waiting

The NBA Draft is less then a week away and the Portland Trail Blazers have the 24th pick. Players like guard Darren Collison from UCLA and Xavier forward Derrick Brown have been names thrown into that spot in mock drafts. Many other players are being brought up for the Blazers to draft as well. There was even a seven-foot center from Ohio State mentioned.

Over their history, the Blazers are infamous for their decisions of draft picks. Unfortunately, the Trail Blazers have made more poor decisions then good ones.

The Bad Ones

• The Blazers picked center LaRue Martin as the top pick in the 1972 draft. The Blazers passed on Bob McAdoo, who went on to become the league MVP, two NBA Finals, a five-time All-Star, and is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Blazers also passed on Julias Erving, who is also in the Basketball Hall of Fame LaRue Martin, he ended up being replaced when Bill Walton was drafted three years later.
• The Blazers used their number one pick in the 1979 draft to pick Mychal Thompson, who was a good pick for them. In Thompson's first season, he made the All-Rookie team. He played eight seasons in Portland but was traded to San Antonio in 1986. Thompson became a well known player when he was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers when they won back-to-back Finals in the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons. The problem with the pick was that the Blazers passed on Larry Bird. It would take too long to showcase what Bird did in his career.

• The most infamous bad pick was in the 1984 draft. With the second pick, the Blazers had a lot of options of the players available. They picked Clyde Drexler the year before and didn't believe they needed another player like Drexler. So the Blazers picked a center. The 7'1" big man Sam Bowie was called. The third pick in the draft that year...Michael Jordan. The pick didn't seem bad at the time but as history will tell you, Jordan had the last laugh. Bowie played five injury plagued seasons for the Blazers and was traded to the New Jersey Nets in 1989. The drafting of Bowie is often labeled as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history. There were also players such as Charles Barkley and John Stockton who were passed on by Portland in the '84 draft.

The Good Ones

• The Blazers, amongst their bad drafts, have had some great ones as well. Mentioned before, LaRue Martin was a bad pick and was pretty much shown the door when the Blazers picked Bill Walton in 1974, a tall, lanky, fiery red-haired kid out of UCLA. The Blazers nailed this pick and it only took three years for that pick to come to full swing when the Blazers won their first and only NBA Finals in 1977. Walton went on to be named one of the 50 greatest players and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Portland retired Walton's #32 in 1996
• The Blazers selected Clyde Drexler in 1983, who is perhaps the best player to ever be a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. He played the majority of his career in Portland as a leader and a scorer. Clyde the Glide went to eight NBA All-Star games as a Trailblazer. He is a member of the 50 greatest players and a member of the Hall of Fame. His No. 22 jersey has been retired by the Trail Blazers.
• The Blazers used their 24th pick in 1985 to draft Terry Porter. Porter played for the Trail Blazers for ten years. He was an important figure to the Trail Blazers while reaching the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992 seasons. Porter had his No. 30 retired in 2008. 
• The Blazers have had good fortune for drafting players and then trading them for better talent. Most recently, the Blazers drafted Brandon Rush from Kansas as the 13th pick in 2008. He was then traded to the Indiana Pacers along with others for Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu. Bayless plays an important role in the late success of the Trail Blazers.
• In 2006, the Blazers struck gold in the NBA Draft. They had the fourth pick in the draft. Portland picked Tyrus Thomas from LSU. Two picks prior, the Chicago Bulls picked LaMarcus Aldridge from Texas. The two teams swapped their picks. The sixth pick was belonged to the Minnesota Timberwolves. They picked Brandon Roy from Washington. He was traded to Portland for Randy Foye who Portland got from Boston. The '06 draft was a busy one for Portland but it landed them their current team captains and was the start to the good things going on in Portland.
  

We're Still Waiting

• In 2007, the Blazers' continued their winning streak in the draft. At the NBA Draft Lottery Portland won the top pick with a 5.3 percent chance of obtaining the top pick. The debate began as whether to draft Kevin Durant or Greg Oden. The Blazers chose Oden since there was a need for another big man and Durant was too much like Aldridge as far as size and play. Missing his first year because of a knee injury, Trailblazers fans held their breath. Flashbacks of the Sam Bowie pick started coming back. The whole going with the big guy and passing on the scorer nightmare. This past season was Oden's first time playing. He did face some additional injuries but showed promise. He has a lot of room to grow and in the minds of many, a good pick. Still, fans alike are still waiting to see if Oden will payoff.