With the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, which is more commonly known as March Madness, set to begin in a month, general managers, scouts and various NBA front office personnel are criss crossing the country as they do their research for the 2017 Draft, which many are predicting will be one of the deeper drafts in recent memory. And while it's true that the process of scouting potential draftees is 12-month endevor, teams do tend to pay more attention to performances late in the season and during the NCAA Tournament, making this time of year arguably the most important in terms of talent evaluation.

Given that, ESPN NBA Draft Insider Chad Ford releasing his second mock draft of the year comes at just the right time, even though we're still a ways away from knowing which underclassmen will make themselves draft-eligible and which teams will have what pick during the 2017 Draft, which is scheduled to take place June 22. And unlike last year, the Trail Blazers (at least as of this moment!) will have a first-round pick, which, according to ESPN's projections, will be the 15th pick (which also means ESPN's projections have the Trail Blazers making the postseason). And with that pick, Ford has the Trail Blazers selecting freshman forward T.J. Leaf out of UCLA...

T.J. Leaf UCLA / Freshman / Forward Leaf is one of the most gifted scorers in college basketball. He has the full arsenal of skills on the offensive end of the court. Defensively, however, he's a bit of a liability and that causes him to slide just a bit down the draft board. Al-Farouq Aminu, Meyers Leonard, Ed Davis and Noah Vonleh are all struggling in Portland right now. Leaf could be a long-term upgrade.

A 6-9, 215 lbs. forward out of El Cajon, CA, Leaf is averaging 17.1 points on 64 percent shooting from the field and 47 percent shooting from three, 8.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocks in 30.7 minutes per game for the Bruins this season. And while I'm sure that, at this point in the draft, the Trail Blazers are going to take whoever they think if the best player, the notion of adding a defensive "liability" to a team already struggling with consistancy on that end might raise a few eyebrows. Then again, there was a freshman out of UCLA name Russell Westbrook who was drafted in the lottery even though there were questions as to whether he could score at the NBA level, so you never know for sure how these things are going to turn out.

For the record, Ford also had the Trail Blazers selecting Leaf in the first iteration of his 2017 mock draft.

But wait, there's more! As you may recall, the Trail Blazers recently traded the 2018 first round pick they got from the Cavaliers as a part of the Anderson Varejao trade/salary dump back to the Cavaliers in exchange for their 2017 first round pick as a way to help along the trade that netted Cleveland Kyle Korver from Atlanta. And with that pick, which ESPN predicts will be the 27th overall, Ford has the Trail Blazers selecting sophomore guard Donovan Mitchell out of Louisville...

Donovan Mitchell

Louisville / Sophomore / Guard Mitchell is having a strong sophomore season. He's one of the most athletic players in the draft and is emerging as a shooter. He's a bit of a tweener, but he should be especially attractive to the Blazers if he can handle backup point guard duties, something he has been recently tasked with at Louisville.

A 6-2, 200 lbs. sophomore from Greenwich, CT is averaging 15.0 points on 41 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent shooting from three, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.2 steals in 30.7 minutes per game for the Cardinals this season. ESPN lists his positives as "super athletic wing," "good slasher who can finish above the rim" and "has potential to be a lockdown defender," which is negatives are "undersized for his position" and "inconsistent shooter." Teams tend to focus a bit more on need than straight-up talent late in the first round and all the way through the second, and I'm not sure there really is need for a backup point guard with CJ McCollum on the roster (it's amazing how many people who cover basketball are unaware that McCollum is Portland's backup point guard by choice rather than neccessity) though "lockdown defender" potential at the guard position is certainly something the Trail Blazers could use.