NBA Mock Draft 2017, Week 17: Portland uses three first round picks

This is the final of three first round picks for the Portland Trail Blazers. It was acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 2018 first round pick. Here, the Blazers get an offensively gifted power forward in UCLA’s TJ Leaf.

The 6-foot-10 freshman is averaging 21.8 points per 40 minutes this season on a 67.3 true shooting percentage. Leaf can score in the post, facing up or from behind the arc. He’s made 46.2 percent of his 3-point attempts this season, but has a pretty small sample size to draw definitive conclusions from. Leaf’s taken just 52 3s. The freshman should also be valued for his ability to move the ball (he has a 13.2 percent assist rate) without turning it over (10.6 percent turnover rate).

While Leaf is a great offensive prospect, he’s not a very exciting defensive piece. Leaf struggled to guard ball screens and isn’t exceptionally quick laterally. He doesn’t protect the rim well either. Leaf’s best defensive attribute will be his ability to clean up the boards. That will limit his upside as a two-way player.

In the NBA, Leaf will likely be a rotation player who can provide a scoring punch off the bench. At his peak, he may crack the starting lineup.