Luka praises Tatum-Brown as ‘best duo’ in NBA

The Portland Trail Blazers continue to signal they haven’t received any trade offers for No. 3 that they find compelling, but they will listen to offers as they hope to build around Damian Lillard.

Because the 2023 draft is considered three-deep in Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 pick is considered inordinately valuable.

“For Portland, they’re going to continue to talk with teams around the league to see if there’s a deal built around that third pick and potentially other assets that makes sense to give up such a valuable piece of real estate,” said Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday. “The third overall pick in a draft that most see as a three-player draft. Now, history may not remember it as that, but that’s where it is this week.

“I think if Portland was going to trade out of that, they’re going to have to get a significant return. I think your margin for error, especially for a smaller market like Portland, to have a rookie scale contract with a player you think has All-Star potential, you’ve got to get a lot back.

“Certainly, they want to build around Damian Lillard. That’s been their focus. Damian Lillard says he wants to continue to be in Portland. So I think they’ll go right up to the clock on Thursday night. Offers and outreach from teams tend to get more serious the closer you get to the deadline…

“Portland may not have gotten the best offers that will come to them, but they will hear in the next 24 hours or so. This is a significant decision for this organization, for Damian Lillard’s future in Portland.”

The NBA Board of Governors has approved the sale of the Charlotte Hornets to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall. The sale will end Michael Jordan’s run of 13 years as the Hornets primary owner.

The sale is expected to be completed in the next one-to-two weeks. Jordan is retaining a minority stake in the Hornets after the sale.

The Hornets were valued at an approximate $3 billion. Jordan paid $275 million for his majority stake in the Charlotte franchise in 2010.