Add in the fact that the Blazers should have between $15-20 million in salary cap space to chase free agents, and the franchise has a surplus of options to orchestrate a quick rebuild following an unexpectedly disastrous season.

Roughly 90 minutes after learning the Blazers’ draft fate on Wednesday, Buchanan declared the team open for business.

“We’re going to — as we normally are — be aggressive to try to find any way to improve the team,” (Chad) Buchanan said. “If that involves trading one or both of the picks, we’re not going to turn down any opportunity to improve the team.”

The Blazers reached this enviable position because of a shrewd trade-deadline deal in March and because the lottery played out according to the odds. Heading into the lottery, the Blazers had a 2.9 percent chance of sneaking into the top three, but were most likely to land No. 11, which is what happened. They had to sweat out the other lottery pick.

via Joe Freeman of The Oregonian