The Portland Trail Blazers are hiring ESPN’s NBA draft analyst Mike Schmitz as an assistant general manager, assigning him leadership of the franchise’s domestic and international scouting departments, sources told ESPN.
New Blazers GM Joe Cronin targeted Schmitz to take a lead role in player evaluation and hired him away from ESPN, for which Schmitz has traveled the world evaluating amateur basketball talent since 2017.
Schmitz has a vast array of scouting and player relationships and deep prospect knowledge across multiple continents that Cronin expects will play a significant role in shaping the Blazers’ roster.
Schmitz is expected to remain with ESPN through the June 23 NBA draft, and formally begin his duties with Portland in July. The Blazers have the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft.
Schmitz, 32, has been a draft analyst for ESPN since 2017, and worked previously for DraftExpress and as a video coordinator with the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA’s G League in 2012-2013.
Schmitz also serves as an assistant coach for the Ugandan national team. Schmitz is a 2012 graduate of the University of Arizona.