PORTLAND, Oregon — The Portland Trail Blazers selected Shaedon Sharpe with the seventh pick in the NBA draft on Thursday [Friday, Manila time], taking a chance on a player who never suited up in college.
Sharpe, 6-foot-6 wing from Canada, was a five-star recruit who committed to Kentucky but never played for the Wildcats. He intended on redshirting his first season, but instead decided to declare for the draft.
[See Banchero taken No. 1 overall by Magic in NBA draft]
The Blazers also had the 46th and 57th picks.
Coming off a season marked by a spate of injuries, a new coach, a front-office shakeup and a roster overhaul, the Blazers are rebuilding around All-Star Damian Lillard.
Portland added a piece on on Wednesday, acquiring Jerami Grant from the Detroit Pistons.
Lillard, who was injured for much of last season, played with Grant on the gold medal-winning U.S. team at last year's Tokyo Olympics. Grant averaged 19.2 points in 47 games last season with the Pistons.
The Blazers finished 27-55 last season, their worst record since 2005-06. Clearly eying draft position late in the season, Portland lost 11 games by more than 30 points after the All-Star break.
We are now on Quento! Download the app to enjoy more articles and videos from SPIN.ph and other Summit Media websites.