Trail Blazers Planning to Scout International League for Talent Later This Month

Portland is looking abroad for its possible next big thing.

Nov 3, 2023; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin looks on before the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images / Soobum Im-Imagn Images

Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin's front office is reportedly heading to Australia's National Basketball League this season to take a look at some intriguing future prospects, reports Olgun Uluc of ESPN.

The Trail Blazers are expected to attend the league's first-ever HoopsFest event in Perth, Uluc reports.

Several NBL standouts are expected to be future NBA-caliber fits. 7-foot-3 Brisbane Bullets center Rocco Zikarsky is seen as the No. 20 pick in the latest ESPN mock draft, Perth Wildcats power forward/center Izan Almansa is currently ranked as the No. 40 pick, and Sydney Kings forward Alex Toohey, who decommitted from Gonzaga ahead of this season, is projected as the No. 57 selection in 2025.

South East Melbourne Phoenix forward Malique Lewis, free agent Roman Siulepa, New Zealand Breakers small forward Karim Lopez, Illawarra Hawks big man Lachlan Olbrich, Cairns Taipans point guard Taran Armstrong, Perth Wildcats wing Ben Henshall, Bullets small forward Josh Bannan, Tasmania JackJumpers center Will Magnay, Sydney Kings power forward Xavier Cooks, Melbourne United small forward Jack White, and Phoenix swingman Luke Fennell are all considered potential future NBA-level talents.

"All 30 NBA teams will have representatives visit Australia and New Zealand throughout NBL25,," said Liam Santamaria, the NBL's General Manager of Next Stars recruitment.

Following three straight seasons languishing in lottery hell, the Trail Blazers are very definitively aiming for a fourth, in anticipation of what is expected to be a stacked 2025 NBA Draft class, regardless of the Aussie talent present. Last year's Blazers finished 21-61 and notched the No. 15 seed in the Western Conference. At the start of 2024-25, this year's vintage will compete with the Utah Jazz for the worst record in the West from the jump. Every other club in the West — including last year's other three non-play-in tournament squads, the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies — believes it has a realistic shot at the postseason in 2024-25. Portland is operating under no such delusions.

The Trail Blazers are being savvy in leaving no international stone unturned. Portland may want to add a few more picks in the 2025 draft, and it has the trade assets (Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton) to potentially do that. The Trail Blazers' own first round draft pick is lottery-protected, but will convey to the Chicago Bulls (another team seemingly destined for the lottery) if the Blazers make the playoffs. The team might possess the Atlanta Hawks' draft pick, should it number among the top 10 picks in the second round (Nos. 31-40).

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