As the Portland Trail Blazers prepare for the 2025 NBA Draft on June 25-26, there’s one thing this cycle has taught us:

After Duke’s Cooper Flagg goes No. 1 overall to Dallas and Rutgers’ Dylan Harper goes No. 2 to San Antonio, no one really knows what the heck is going to happen.

NBA.com puts together a consensus mock draft using 10 predictions from different media outlets. Out of those 10, there are eight different players projected to go to the Blazers at No. 11.

Needless to say, there’s many different ways this whole draft could shake out for Portland, and there are worlds where it trades that No. 11 pick and might not have anyone new coming in.

We’ll ignore that world for now though and assume the Blazers keep the pick. Here are the five best options (in our opinion) for Portland at No. 11:

But first, the needs

Best available versus best fit is always a big debate, and for a team like Portland that’s still trying to acquire as much talent as possible, it’s a fair assumption general manager Joe Cronin isn’t coming looking for necessarily the best fit.

But Portland does have some glaring holes to fill, and it starts with shooting where it was one of the worst in the NBA once again.

The Blazers shot 45% from the field, good enough for 26th in the league. They were in the same spot on 3-point shooting with a 34.2% mark and were also 26th in free-throw percentage at 76.2%.

Portland needs to be more careful with the ball as well as it finished the year 29th in turnovers per game at 15.1 a night. That could be something you chuck up to youth, but having a true point guard to help steer this ship would be helpful in the form of a draft pick or someone like Scoot Henderson continuing to develop.

Jase Richardson, SG/PG, freshman, Michigan State

The 6-foot-1 guard out of Magic Johnson’s alma mater was named on two of the 10 mock drafts on NBA.com, so we’ll start with him.

Richardson, who is the son of two-time NBA dunk contest champion Jason Richardson, had a strong first year for the Spartans where he moved from coming off the bench and into the starting lineup in the latter half of the season.

A big reason for that was his shooting where he connected on 41.2% of his 3-pointers and shot 49.3% overall from the field. He averaged 12.1 points per game on the season.

He did average a low 1.9 assists per game, but also didn’t turn the ball over either with less than one a game on average.

However, Richardson is only 18 years old, making a pick of him feel like a restart on what they’ve done with Henderson. And Portland certainly has a full guard room at the moment with Henderson, Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe and Matisse Thybulle.

Pick grade: D

Egor Demin, PG/SG, freshman, BYU

The 6-foot-9 guard is a confusing prospect as the Russian possesses the skills you want out of a point guard, but he’s in a tall frame and didn’t do himself any favors shooting the ball.

We’ll start with the good where he averaged 5.5 assists per game for the Cougars and also pulled down four rebounds a night. He’s active defensively as well with 1.2 steals per game.

He did average 2.9 turnovers per game, but that could just be a result of him being more a true passing guard than anything.

Where it gets ugly is the 3-point shot where he hit on 27.3% of his 154 attempts from deep. He shot 41.2% overall from the field and only 69.5% from the free throw line.

It’s been established that Portland can’t currently shoot, and while the Blazers could use a true PG to take over and direct the offense, Demin’s shooting might not make him an option for Rip City.

Pick grade: C

Carter Bryant, SF/PF,  freshman, Arizona

The 6-foot-8 forward is an intriguing pick if Portland wants to keep going down the defensive path it has carved out for itself.

Bryant averaged a block and a steal per game while primarily coming off the bench for the Wildcats and averaging 19.3 minutes per game.

Mix in that defensive prowess with a 37.1% mark from 3-point range and the 19-year-old Bryant certainly has the makings for a 3-and-D type wing and more.

He’s a bit of a bruiser with 2.3 fouls per game in those minutes, and he averaged a turnover a game as well. But Bryant presents the chance for the Blazers to keep adding to its defensive talent, especially at the forward spot where Jerami Grant is certainly rumored to be on the move.

Not only that, but 37.1% is still a noticeably better mark than the 34.2% the team shot last year.

Pick grade: B

Derik Queen, C, freshman, Maryland

Queen is 6-foot-10 and listed as a center after a great freshman year with the Terrapins where he led them to the Sweet 16 and hit a buzzer-beater in the round of 32 to get them there.

The Baltimore local was a terror on the glass, averaging nine rebounds per game. His work down low led to 16.5 points per game as well on 52.6% shooting from the floor.

While Queen is listed as a center, it feels like his role is more of a stretch-four coming into the NBA, where the expectation will be to shoot.

Queen showed strong strides in the mid-range, but has been knocked for his 20% mark from the 3-point line.

However, Queen only attempted 35 deep balls all season, and he hit three in Maryland’s three NCAA tournament games where it mattered most.

Queen has also been dinged a bit for his conditioning during the NBA Combine as well. But again, it feels like there is rebuttal as this year’s Maryland squad donned the “Crab Five” nickname as its starting line up played 75% of the minutes.

Portland would be gambling on the deep shooting coming around, but Queen could be a great option inside no matter what, especially if the team ends up dealing Deandre Ayton and committing to Donovan Clingan as the starter.

Pick grade: B+

Nique Clifford, SG/SF, senior, Colorado State

In full transparency, there could be some bias here as the person writing this is a Colorado State alum. However, the 23-year-old forward from the Colorado Springs, Colorado, seems to line up well with what Portland could be looking for.

After spending his first three years at rival Colorado where he was passed over for current Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams, Clifford transferred up Interstate 25 to Colorado State where he averaged 12.2 and 18.9 points per game in his two seasons.

At 6-foot-6, he’s trending toward being another small-statured forward that Portland has been a home to over the years. But Clifford has proven to shoot the ball well with a 49.6% mark from the field and 37.7% from 3-point range in his senior year.

This past season, he displayed his ability to make plays too with 4.4 assists per game, but did come with 2.6 turnovers per game as well.

He’s also an excellent rebounder where he averaged 9.6 a night for his senior season, helping the Rams come up a Derik Queen buzzer-beater short of the Sweet 16. And defensively he averaged 1.2 steals per game and has the kind of switchability that the NBA loves.

The three-ball isn’t quite as high as some might hope, but the shooting form and the strength to bully inside is there. Plus, he was former teammates with current Blazer Jabari Walker and would be coached by another Colorado local in Chauncey Billups.

Clifford is projected to go a little bit later than No. 11, but as we said before, it feels like this draft could see some wild swings, and this would certainly be one that makes some sense for the Blazers.

Draft grade: A-