Without a 2026 pick, Portland could target this 6-foot-11 versatile point-forward whose guard-like skills and defensive length offer high-upside value as a creative second-round trade-in candidate.
The Portland Trail Blazers are entering the 2026 NBA Draft without a selection after their first-round pick conveyed to the Chicago Bulls and their second-round pick landed with the San Antonio Spurs. That makes draft night a little more complicated for Portland, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the Blazers have to sit it out.
Moving into the back end of the first round or somewhere in the second round is always on the table for teams willing to get creative. Portland doesn’t need to make a massive splash to find value in this class, either. As BlazersRoundtable continues looking at realistic trade-in options, the focus is on prospects who could still be available in that late-first-to-second-round range and make sense for the roster.
Today’s prospect is Baba Miller.
Miller would bring a level of positional versatility that’s extremely important in the modern NBA. At 6-foot-11 with good length, he’s a prospect who, at one point in time, was initially projected to be a one-and-done lottery talent entering his freshman season at Florida State.
Although it’s taken him longer to come around and he’s had stops at multiple colleges, most recently Cincinnati, he’s now an NBA-caliber prospect and a player who could be worthy of a mid-second-round pick.
Again, the versatility is the draw for him at that size. Miller has the ability to play either forward spot, handle the ball and impact the game in different ways. He grew up playing guard before a growth spurt, and he’s maintained some of those guard skills despite being nearly seven feet tall.
He’s not a primary passer or playmaker, but he certainly has the connective upside to enhance an offense. He also moves very well for his size, which leads to defensive versatility and an ability to guard multiple positions.
Miller has all the tools and basketball IQ to become a good player. It’s just taken him a little bit longer to come around, and with a mid-second-round pick, the Blazers could move into this draft and take a swing on a player like that.
There’s never really such thing as having too many players with Miller’s blend of size, feel and versatility. In the second round, Portland could look at him as a two-way contract candidate who gets more time to develop in the G League.
This point-forward archetype is becoming increasingly valuable across the NBA. While Miller doesn’t project as a star-level player, he could develop into a really good rotation player for the Blazers in the future, maybe even filling a Jeremi Grant-type role at some point.