Trail Blazers, owner Paul Allen evaluate NBA Draft target Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the most highly-regarded player to visit Portland for a predraft workout so far this offseason.

TUALATIN — For the first time this offseason,

owner

attended one of his team’s predraft workouts.

Yes, things are finally starting to get interesting at the practice facility in Tualatin.

Allen has never been shy about admitting his affinity for the NBA Draft, but he typically saves his predraft visits for only the most important of prospects. Well, the Blazers welcomed their most intriguing NBA Draft hopeful to date on Monday as Georgia shooting guard

joined five other prospects for an NBA audition.

One of the Blazers’ most pressing offseason needs is adding depth at shooting guard and Caldwell-Pope has the size (6-foot-5), shooting ability and defensive prowess to mature into an NBA rotation player.

“I can bring a lot,” Caldwell-Pope said. “I play both sides of the ball. I defend. I have an offensive game. I rebound the ball. I get steals a lot. Just a lot (I) can bring to the team.”

It

that Blazers general manager Neil Olshey explores the trade market this month and dangles the team’s No. 10 overall selection as bait to

next season. But if a trade partner doesn’t materialize and the Blazers end up using their only first-round pick, it appears Caldwell-Pope is a legitimate target.

Team performance

him at the NBA draft combine in Chicago last month and, in addition to Monday’s on-court evaluation, members of the team’s management group spent time with him during a dinner Sunday evening shortly after he arrived into town.

“We had a great conversation,” Caldwell-Pope said of the dinner, which Allen did not attend. “They got to know me. I asked some questions. So it went well.”

And how about his workout on Monday? Caldwell-Pope said that although his jump shot was merely “average,” he felt good about his performance. He said the team put him and the other five prospects through a series of shooting drills, ballhandling exercises and a surplus of three-on-three and one-on-one competitions.

Caldwell-Pope left Georgia after a widely successful sophomore season in which he averaged 18.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.03 steals per game and was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. He enhanced his value last month at the NBA draft combine in Chicago during athletic testing, as he recorded the third-fastest time in the 3/4-court sprint and the fifth-fastest time in an agility drill.

During his final college season, Caldwell-Pope proved to be a clutch player — regularly increasing his shooting percentage and scoring output late in games — and a lethal spot-up shooter. He was one of just nine Division I players to reach double figures in scoring during every game last season. And while much of that can be attributed to opportunity — he was the focal point on a mediocre Georgia team — he also proved to be a consistent offensive force.

But despite his offensive ability, Caldwell-Pope maintains that defense is actually his best attribute. And there wasn’t much argument from the other prospects who went head-to-head against him on Monday.

“He liked to use his body,” Kansas guard Elijah Johnson said of Caldwell-Pope’s defense. “He’ll bump you. He’s pretty big. I didn’t know he was that big. He uses his body toward his advantage.”

Will this prove to be an advantage when the Blazers go on the clock during the NBA Draft on June 27? At least

—put together by ESPN draft expert Chad Ford — predicts the Blazers will select Caldwell-Pope at No. 10.

Allen’s presence Monday didn’t do anything to devalue that prediction.

Not that Caldwell-Pope noticed.

“I didn’t really know he was in here,” Caldwell-Pope said of Allen. “I’m just out there competing. Just going hard every drill we had, shooting the ball well and just defending. I just come out on a mission to prove myself.”

Notes:

Caldwell-Pope said he has seven more predraft workouts scheduled, with a date to either Chicago or Cleveland lined up later this week. Before Monday, he had previously worked out for the Minnesota Timberwolves. ... The rest of Monday’s visitors were second-round targets: Sherwood Brown, a 6-4 guard from Florida Gulf Coast; Jared Berggren, a 6-10 forward/center from Wisconsin; Brandon Davies, a 6-9 forward from BYU; Abdul Gaddy, a 6-3 guard from Washington; and Johnson, a 6-4 guard from Kansas.

--Joe Freeman

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