Portland Trail Blazers Move Up (Slightly) In NBA Draft

Huge breaking news, or maybe just a questionable minor deal that moves Portland up slightly.

Here's what ESPN had to say about Portland's ascent to the 22nd pick:

The Portland TrailBlazers acquired the 22nd pick in Thursday's NBA draft from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the 24th and 56th picks in this year's draft, and worst of their second round picks in 2010, according to a league source.

The trade has been agreed to in principle by the two teams. It should be finalized by the league office later today.

I have no comment about this trade.

Here's the official release from the Blazers thanks to SM at Oregon Live:

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Trail Blazers moved up two spots in the 2009 NBA Draft, acquiring the 22nd overall selection from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the 24th pick, 56th pick, and a second-round pick in 2010, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

With Wednesday's transaction, the Trail Blazers now hold the 22nd, 33rd, 38th and 55th overall selections in Thursday's NBA Draft.

The 2010 second-round pick sent to Dallas will be the worse of the two picks Portland currently owns in next year's NBA Draft, which are the team's own selection and Chicago's. The Trail Blazers acquired the Chicago pick in a three-way draft day trade in 2008.