There are basically three ways to add players to an NBA team. There are free agent signings, which the Trail Blazers used last season, acquiring Enes Kanter after he was bought out by the Knicks in the middle of the season. Had they not been able to sign Kanter, with the idea at the time being that he would back up Jusuf Nurkic, Portland's season likely ends with a first-round exit.

Then there are trades, another option that Portland used to add talent midseason, acquiring Rodney Hood from the Cavaliers in exchange for Wade Baldwin, Nik Stauskas and two future second round picks. The Trail Blazers probably advance past the Thunder in the first round without Hood, but there's no way they best the Nuggets in seven games to make the Western Conference Finals for the first time in nearly 20 years without him.

And finally, there's the draft. The Blazers currently have seven players on their roster who they drafted or acquired on draft night and whose production, to state the obvious, was vital to Portland's 2018-19 season. And in tonight's draft, scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, they'll have what might be a rare opportunity this offseason to add talent. The Trail Blazers currently own just the 25th overall pick of the first round after trading their 2019 second round pick.

With few options in free agency, both due to a lack of cap space and Portland not typically being a sought-after free agent destination, tonight's draft is likely the best opportunity the Blazers will have until the 2020 trade deadline to add to a roster that will look decidedly different than the one that made the Western Conference Finals.

With Kanter, Hood, Seth Curry, Jake Layman and Al-Farouq Aminu all hitting free agency -- Portland has Bird Rights on the last two, meaning they can go over the salary cap to re-sign those players -- and with few current options other than the taxpayer midlevel extension worth $5.7 million per season, either drafting a player with the 25th overall pick or using that pick as a part of a trade are the primary methods the Trail Blazers have for filling out the roster, at least for the time being.

Portland hosted 24 players at their facility in Tualatin and attended a number of agent-run workouts in the run up to the draft, so they'll be ready to make a pick if a player they like is still on the board at No. 25.

Or they could already have tentative agreements in place to trade the pick should a player that another team covets is available when Portland's on the clock. They could trade for another pick -- grabbing a player in the second round, where contracts are negotiated rather than guaranteed, seems like the most likely option in that scenario -- or for a veteran player, though that becomes tricky due to Portland having to send out as much salary as they take back due to being over the salary cap.The Blazers have plans in place, and ranked, for all of these scenarios, though obviously everything other than simply selecting a player at No. 25 is subject to another team signing on.

And that's something worth keeping in mind tonight as you're watching the draft unfold. There have already been a number of trades resulting in teams swapping picks and players in the last week leading up to the draft, and many expect more deals to take shape over the course of the two rounds. Given that, it's understandable that fans hoping to see the Trail Blazers improve upon their 2018-19 campaign will be clamoring for a deal, and the team will likely do whatever they can to make that happen.

But if not, keep on mind where the Trail Blazers were at this time last season. After being swept out of first round for the second-straight season, the Blazers selected Anfernee Simons, a 19 year old who didn't play in college and Gary Trent Jr., who they acquired via trade from the Kings for cash and two future second round picks. A few weeks later, they signed Curry and Stauskas using the taxpayer midlevel extension, and that's how they entered the 2018-19 season.

But they finished that same season with a decidedly different roster and drastically different results in the playoffs. That's worth keeping in mind, especially if Portland doesn't end up making the kind and/or quality of trades that other teams ultimately execute during the draft.

You can follow the local angles of the 2019 Draft by tuning into NBC Sports Northwest starting at 3 p.m. on the Rip City Drive. After that, be sure to check out Trail Blazers Courtside with Jordan Kent, Michael Holton and Lamar Hurd in studio, with Brooke Olzendam, Jay Allen and yours truly pitching in from the practice facility in Tualatin.