Round 1 - Pick 20 - Portland Trailblazers

[GreenBear]

With the 20th pick in the draft, the Portland Trailblazers select: Ariel Hukporti, center.

Pros:
+ Fantastic moves inside the post on solid volume
+ Great defensive rebounder
+ Very good paint defender
+ Draws lots of contact
+ Extremely Disciplined and Consistent

Cons:
- No shot to speak of outside the paint
- Should never dribble
- Shaq-level FT shooter
- Subpar Offensive rebounder
- Dumber than your average bear

Hukporti is a throwback big. He's at his best when he's near the basket (on both ends). Offensively, he isn't any help facilitating, and he should dribble as little as possible. But find a way to get him the ball inside the paint and just get out of the way. He spins, slides, and rolls his way to the rim with relative ease, and he keeps defenders off-balance with an impressive bank shot that is satisfying to watch. His inside scoring is good enough to be an excellent secondary scoring option in any lineup.

Defensively, he does an excellent job staying in front of opponents, preventing them from finding an easy route to the basket. His large frame keeps him from being pushed around in the paint, and he shuffles his feet well to maintain good positioning and rarely gets called for a silly foul. He does a good job getting his hands up to alter shots, and he's excellent at grabbing the defensive rebound to end possessions.

With a roster that's already pretty deep and balanced, the Blazers decided to go BPA long before the draft started. And management determined big man Ariel Hukport (6'10, 246) to be that player when the 20th pick was made. At 22 years old, he comes into the league relatively polished compared to many of his draft class peers. So if he comes into camp and impresses the coaching staff, he could carve out a role on the team. He has the talent but will have to earn it on this Blazers team.

[Jestor]

Impactful big who will score and convert with dream accuracy inside. Great defensive rebounder, strong shotblocker, solid defense, great discipline. And he'll draw fouls. Red flags are terrible passing and handling, awful IQ, mediocre offensive rebounding, and uncertain durability. Could easily end up one of the biggest steals in the draft.

[emplep7]

Very good low post big man who should provide very solid defense. Good pick especially with OO leaving.

[mgtr81]

Old school big man.

[bt]

Great value at 20

[rh0xxy]

Very good low post big man who should provide very solid defense. Good pick especially with OO leaving.

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[KW]

A strong big man with lots of dunks in his future. Quite similar to Sharp where he's gonna dunk everything he catches near the rim, and anything else he does with the ball in his hands makes you cry. Good defensive rebounder, and a decent rim protector as well.

[GreenBear]

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