Blazers Draft Rumors: Lillard, Leonard, Barnes

The Trail Blazers have a pair of first-round picks, at No. 6 and No. 11, and back-to-back second-round picks, at No. 40 and No. 41. Four rookies would be a lot to carry on a roster, but earlier this week we passed along a report from Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com suggesting the Blazers would keep both lottery selections. Yesterday, Haynes tweeted that the Blazers have a workout scheduled with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist that could indicate they're looking to trade up. Haynes echoes that sentiment in a report today, and adds plenty of other draft-related news.

  • The Blazers are high on Damian Lillard, Meyers Leonard, Harrison Barnes and Kidd-Gilchrist. Leonard is a player the team could take at No. 11, but the others will likely go sooner, including Lillard, according to a league executive who's watching the Weber state point guard climb the charts, Haynes says.
  • As Lillard's stock rises, it becomes increasingly clear he'll be taken in front of fellow point guard Kendall Marshall, who says he doesn't think he'll be drafted as highly as No. 11, Haynes tweets. Marshall is currently ranked No. 14 on the DraftExpress.com list of the top 100 prospects.
  • Haynes speculates that the Blazers will take Lillard at No. 6 as long as Barnes and Andre Drummond are off the board. 
  • Add Drummond to a list of players working out for the team that we learned about yesterday. That list includes Lillard, Tony Wroten, Jared Sullinger and Austin Rivers.
  • We've heard that Jeremy Lamb looked disinterested in interviews, but Haynes also notes that during drills he struggled with his outside shot, a purported strength, which disappointed the Blazers and many others.
  • A presumptive top-10 pick displayed a knowledge of the team that's months out of date, saying, “I would love to play for a city like Portland and play alongside LaMarcus and be coached by Nate McMillan.”

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