Evanson: Draft Lottery loss might actually be the win Blazer fans have been waiting for

It’s my fault. I accept all blame for what appears at face value to be an unmitigated disaster.

But while the Trail Blazers’ unceremonious free fall down the draft ladder as part of the NBA Draft Lottery this past weekend looks and feels like more of the same for Rip City fans expecting the worst, I’m here to tell you that it actually might be a stroke of luck.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about Damian Lillard’s woes with the Milwaukee Bucks regarding the injuries to he and star center Giannis Antetokounmpo, and what it meant to their and the former Blazer star’s chances of getting his elusive championship.

I re-hashed a handful of the traumatic experiences that to this day scar fans of the team, and painted those tragedies as ghosts now haunting Lillard from afar.

Portland fans got it, Milwaukee fans took umbrage to it, and Lillard — he likely never laid eyes on it.

But now, a handful of days removed from what felt like another kick to the groin for the franchise’s longest and most loyal fanatics, it’s being viewed—at least by me—as a win in the wake of more than a couple decades of losses for them and me, and maybe a fresh start for all of us.

In case you’re not familiar, the Blazers will be picking seventh in next month’s draft despite their record placing them in the top-4 and odds doing the same.

At last Sunday’s lottery, Portland had a 13.2 percent chance of landing number one, but instead fell back while the Atlanta Hawks — who held a 3 percent shot — slungshot to the top — laughing all the way.

But while fans of the team are singing the blues, I’m humming a different tune due to what I and we won’t have to worry about could’ve, and likely would’ve happened had the Blazers been sitting in Atlanta’s shoes.

This year’s draft is being talked about by those in and around it as potentially the worst in league history.

There’s no generational player the likes of Victor Wembanyama; no future perennial all-stars like Anthony Edwards or Paolo Banchero; or even a high-end starter like Karl Anthony Towns. But rather likely a fist full of Markelle Fultz’, Ben Simmons’, Anthony Bennett’s, or at best Deandre Ayton’s or Cade Cunningham’s.

Is that what you want? Not me, especially after suffering through the pain of the Greg Oden experience.

Portland needs a sure thing. Or at least the semblance of one capable of making a real difference next to burgeoning talent the likes of Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe and/or Scoot Henderson. That’s not available in this year’s draft, which is why the true value in this year’s player auction is not having to make that choice.

This year’s number one will at best be a “good” player, but one you’ll be paying a “great” salary working against you in terms of the salary cap.

And at worst? A weight around an organization looking more so to trim the fat.

So, maybe falling to No. 7 was a blessing? A gift? Or even an olive branch between the basketball gods and the black-white-and-redheaded-Trail Blazer-stepchildren they’ve been taking their frustrations out on for what seems like an eternity?

No pick also means no disappointment, and “not losing” feels like a win to me these days.

That’s the way I’d like to look at it, and maybe you should too — after all, our mental health may depend on it.