A few notes from the NBA Draft Lottery/Combine:

Big targets for Blazers, Lillard?

Last offseason, there was plenty of uncertainty around Damian Lillard’s future with the Portland Trail Blazers. That doesn’t seem to be the case this offseason. ESPN reported that the Blazers promoted executive Joe Cronin to general manager and inked him to a four-year deal. Cronin, per ESPN, has vowed to continue to build the franchise around Lillard.

Lillard has been on the Knicks' radar for several years, dating back to Steve Mills’ presidency. The uncertainty around Lillard last offseason led the Knicks to discuss potential significant packages for Lillard internally, per SNY sources.

Unless things go awry during his extension talks, Lillard is seemingly off the market. The six-time All Star was in Chicago on Tuesday to represent the Blazers at the NBA Draft Lottery. Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups were in the room as well to see Portland fall back to the seventh pick in the draft.

This is a big offseason for the Blazers, who project to have significant cap space this summer. The Blazers’ specific amount of cap space depends on the decisions they make with free agents Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic.

Where could Portland turn in free agency? During the season, at least one prominent member of the organization viewed Miles Bridges as a target for the club. Cody Martin was also viewed as a target during the season.

Both Bridges and Martin are restricted free agents. So the Hornets would have the right to match any offer either player signs with another team.

Davis, Mathurin, talk to NYK

A Knicks contingent including team president Leon Rose, senior basketball advisor William Wesley, GM Scott Perry and head coach Tom Thibodeau met with prospects this week in Chicago.

Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis and Arizona’s Ben Mathurin are among the players New York met with, per audio transcript provided by the NBA.

Both Mathurin and Davis could be available for the Knicks, who have the 11^th pick. Mathurin, out of Arizona, said he worked out with RJ Barrett during Team Canada training last offseason. When asked about the Knicks, Davis said that he is the kind of two-way player who can fit well with Thibodeau.

"I’ve heard from people that he likes guys like that," Davis said. "So hopefully I can fit in with them and they’ll be invested in me enough to draft me."

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