The second lottery pick the Blazers potentially gained comes via the Pelicans, who sent back a protected 2022 first-rounder in the McCollum deal. Protected is the operative term. The New Orleans pick only conveys to Portland if it falls between No. 5 and 14 — the latter being the final lottery slot. If the Pelicans make the playoffs, which they are one play-in victory over the Clippers on Friday from doing, their 2022 pick will fall below the lottery line, to at least No. 15, which is a long way of saying the Blazers won’t get it. Instead, the Blazers will get the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2025 first-round pick, which is not only three years away but also has little chance of being a lottery pick unless Giannis Antetokounmpo decides to leave town (to be fair, he could become a free agent in the summer of 2024, and if he relocates, perhaps the Bucks would fall off the map and go into tank mode themselves, which could make the pick in 2025 pretty valuable).
by Hoops Hype