Editing Portland Trail Blazers (section)

==== Drafting Clyde Drexler ====
[[File:Clyde Drexler 01.jpg|upright|left|thumb|160px|[[Clyde Drexler]] played in Portland from 1983 to 1995.]]
In the [[1983 NBA draft|1983 draft]], the team selected [[Phi Slama Jama|University of Houston]] guard–forward [[Clyde Drexler]] with the 14th pick;<ref name="nbadraft" /> "Clyde the Glide" would become the face of the franchise for over a decade, and the team's second-most decorated player (after Walton).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Clyde Drexler Biography |encyclopedia=NBA Encyclopedia: Playoff edition |publisher=National Basketball Association |url=http://www.nba.com/history/players/drexler_bio.html |access-date=November 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215220102/http://www.nba.com/history/players/drexler_bio.html |archive-date=February 15, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[1984 NBA draft|In the next year's draft]], the Trail Blazers landed the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft. After the Houston Rockets selected Drexler's college teammate [[Hakeem Olajuwon]] at No. 1, the Trail Blazers selected [[Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball|Kentucky]] center [[Sam Bowie]]. Drafting third, the [[Chicago Bulls]] selected [[Michael Jordan]]. The selection of the injury-plagued Bowie over Jordan has been criticized as one of the worst draft picks in the history of American professional sports.<ref name="baddraft" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dwyer |first=Kelly |date=June 24, 2005 |title=NBA Draft Busts |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/2005/06/24/gallery.nbabusts/content.20.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114191101/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/2005/06/24/gallery.nbabusts/content.20.html |archive-date=January 14, 2010 |access-date=November 5, 2007 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]}}</ref> That summer, the Blazers also made a controversial trade, sending Lever, Cooper, and Natt to the [[Denver Nuggets]] for high-scoring forward [[Kiki Vandeweghe]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Denver Nuggets History: 1979 to 1990 |url=http://www.nba.com/nuggets/history/eighties.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202065137/http://www.nba.com/nuggets/history/eighties.html |archive-date=February 2, 2008 |access-date=November 6, 2007 |website=Denver Nuggets official website |publisher=National Basketball Association}}</ref> In the [[1985 NBA draft|1985 draft]], the Blazers selected point guard [[Terry Porter]] with the last pick of the first round. Porter would go on to become one of the top point guards in the league, and the Blazers' all-time leader in assists.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |last=Quick |first=Jason |date=April 10, 2010 |title=Blazers Top 40: No. 3 Terry Porter, the king of three-pointers |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/04/blazers_top_40_no_3_terry_port.html |website=[[The Oregonian]]}}</ref>

[[File:Arvydas Sabonis.jpg|left|thumb|160px|After being drafted by the Trail Blazers several years prior, [[Arvydas Sabonis]] made his NBA debut during the 1995–96 season.]]
However, the Blazers continued to struggle in the postseason, and in 1986, Ramsay was fired and replaced with [[Mike Schuler]]. Despite this, they were the only team to beat the Boston Celtics on the road that season.<ref name="teamhistory" /> That following off-season, the team drafted two players from behind the [[Iron Curtain]], [[Arvydas Sabonis]] and [[Dražen Petrović]],<ref name="nbadraft">{{Cite web |title=Portland Trail Blazers Draft History |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/draft.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012111432/http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/draft.html |archive-date=October 12, 2007 |access-date=November 5, 2007 |website=basketball-reference.com}}</ref> and sent Thompson to the [[San Antonio Spurs]] for former [[Oregon State Beavers|Oregon State University]] star [[Steve Johnson (basketball)|Steve Johnson]]. Johnson was a high-scoring forward-center who the team intended to pair with Bowie on the frontline. It was not to be, as Bowie broke his leg five games into the [[1986–87 NBA season|1986–87 season]], missing the next two and a half seasons.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 9, 1986 |title=Broken leg sidelines Sam Bowie |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/MH/lib00246,0EB3661A47E857D7.html |work=[[Miami Herald]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 19, 1987 |title=Blazers' Bowie breaks his leg—again |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-searc/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB29D8666D6699E&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |access-date=November 8, 2007 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]}} {{dead link|date=December 2011|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref> During Schuler's brief tenure, the Blazers failed to advance out of the first round of the NBA playoffs.<ref name="cbs" />