Portland Moves to No. 8, Might Not Be Done Yet : NBA draft: Trail Blazers make trade with Detroit, try to get in position to pick prep player Kevin Garnett.

The Portland Trail Blazers, hot for high school star Kevin Garnett, started climbing the ladder to the top slots of tonight’s NBA draft, trading their two first-round choices, the No. 18 and 19 picks, for the Detroit Pistons’ No. 8.

The Trail Blazers will have to move higher to take Garnett, a 6-foot-11 forward from Chicago’s Farragut Academy, and are trying to get to the Washington Bullets’ No. 4. The Trail Blazers have reportedly offered No. 8 and guard Rod Strickland for No. 4 and guard Rex Chapman.

Although it wasn’t announced, the Pistons will get power forward Otis Thorpe as part of the deal too, as well as the last pick in the second round, No. 58.

However, the Pistons are now over the salary cap and won’t have room for Thorpe until the new labor agreement, if approved, boosts the cap to $23 million.

In another deal, the Seattle SuperSonics, who acquired Kendall Gill from the Charlotte Hornets two seasons ago, traded him back for guards Hersey Hawkins and David Wingate.

If the Bullets accept the Trail Blazer offer, the top of the draft will look like this:

1. Golden State Warriors--Joe Smith, Maryland. Team officials say he’s their guy.

2. Clippers--Antonio McDyess, Alabama. Nips North Carolina’s Jerry Stackhouse, who acknowledged having had some doubts about them. Stackhouse said Tuesday in Toronto: “The only reservations I had were I felt the teams around them [in the draft] were better situations for me. But God tests strong people so I feel that would be a test.”

3. Philadelphia 76ers--Stackhouse.

4. Portland Trail Blazers--Garnett.

5. Minnesota Timberwolves--Bryant Reeves, Oklahoma State. They prefer Big Country to another gamble on another iffy character, North Carolina’s Rasheed Wallace.

6. Vancouver Grizzlies--Wallace.

7. Toronto Raptors--Ed O’Bannon, UCLA.

8. Washington Bullets--Cherokee Parks, Duke.