The Portland Thorns selected forwards Rachel Hill, Savannah Jordan and Tyler Lussi and midfielder Caroline Flynn in Thursday's 2017 NWSL College Draft.

Unlike 2016 when the Thorns held the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Portland did not have a pick in the entire first round Thursday. Instead of looking for a starter, Portland entered the draft intent on picking up some key depth pieces.

"In a sense we have no specific needs on the field today," Thorns coach Mark Parsons told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "The biggest success of the offseason is that almost everyone from the 2016 team is returning. We're in a position where some of the best players in the world will be in Portland and they'll be there all season."

When their first pick came up at No. 14 overall, the Thorns selected Hill out of the University of Connecticut. Hill is a talented attacking player that can play on the wing. She was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2016 and finished her college career with 61 goals and 18 assists.

Hill fills a positional need for Portland. Thorns general manager Gavin Wilkinson said on Talk Timbers Wednesday that the club was hoping to pick up a depth piece at the winger position through the draft.

"Rachel is a versatile attacking player that knows how to create and score goals," Parsons said.

After drafting Hill, the Thorns made a surprise trade when they sent the No. 20 and No. 27 overall picks in the draft to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for the No. 18 overall pick.

With the No. 18 overall pick, the Thorns made the interesting choice to draft Jordan out of the University of Florida, even though they knew she likely wouldn't be joining Portland right away.

Parsons said that Jordan is expected to begin the 2017 season playing for a club in Europe and that the Thorns are not yet sure when she will return to Portland. But with the depth already on Portland's roster, Parsons said that the club had the luxury of being able to draft Jordan.

Parsons believes that Jordan, who finished her college career with an incredible 81 goals and 27 assists, was the best forward in the draft and only fell to the second round because teams were aware that she would be playing abroad this season.

"Our needs aren't right now," Parsons said. "We have a very talented, hard working group of great people and not many of them are going far throughout the year. We might lose three players for the Euros for maybe 2-4 games this year. When you're in this position, you can look at the medium, long-term."

The Thorns weren't done dealing after acquiring the No. 18 overall pick.

At the start of the third round, Portland sent their natural 2018 second and third round picks to the Chicago Red Stars in exchange for the No. 21 overall pick in the 2017 draft.

With the No. 21 overall pick, Portland took Tyler Lussi out of Princeton University. Lussi finished her college career with a record 53 goals and 16 assists.

"Tyler is a bag of energy and pace and speed," Parsons said. "She can run around and cause problems with her work rate."

The Thorns closed out the draft by selecting Flynn out of the University of Nebraska with the No. 40 overall pick. Flynn finished her college career with 11 goals and seven assists.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg