With their recent emergence as a possible fit, NBA.com's David Aldridge sees the Portland Trail Blazers nabbing Illinois center Meyers Leonard with the No. 11 overall pick in his mock draft. Without much time before the draft, Aldridge thinks the Blazers could look for a new center of the future:
The Blazers start the post-Oden era by taking one of the most athletic bigs available in the Draft. Leonard's shooting performance at the Chicago pre-Draft camp earlier this month removed enough doubts about his hubris to make him a lottery pick.
The aforementioned Greg Oden was supposed to be anchoring Portland's frontline by now, but instead he's on the fringe of being out of the league completely after a variety of injuries. Leonard can't match the upside that Oden had coming out of school back in 2007, but he certainly has the potential to be the starting center that Oden could never be.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For additional news, notes and analysis from around the NBA, visit SB Nation's NBA news hub.