Trail Blazers Officially Acquire First-Round Pick

The Cavaliers and Trail Blazers have finalized the trade that was first reported on Thursday night, the team writes in a press release. The deal will see Portland return the 2018 first-round pick they acquired from Cleveland last season in exchange for Cleveland’s unprotected 2017 first-round pick.

The deal sets the stage for the Cavs to acquire Kyle Korver and gives the Trail Blazers a pair of first-round picks in a draft that’s already being touted as incredibly exciting and loaded with high-end talent even outside of the Top 10.

The Blazers had originally acquired Cleveland’s 2018 first-round pick in last February’s Anderson Varajao deal, but the Cavs needed to reacquire it in order to work around the Ted Stepien Rule, which prohibits teams from dealing first-round picks in consecutive future years. The Cavaliers have reportedly committed to sending Atlanta their 2019 first-round pick, thus their need to reacquire a first-round pick for 2018.

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