The Portland Trailblazers will either be really good next year or really average. If they turn out to be the latter, it won’t be because the front office didn’t secure the right pieces.
A once unconvincing backcourt that relied solely on Damian Lillard is now one of the five best tandems in the league, thanks to the $106 million max extension C.J. McCollum signed today, which will keep the 24-year-old in Portland through the 2020-2021 season.
After a slow start to his NBA career, McCollum emerged as an offensive threat for the Blazers in the 2015 playoffs, and carried his increasingly brilliant play into the 2015-2016 regular season (20.8 pts, 4.3 asts) and playoffs, earning him Most Improved Player honors at the end of last season. McCollum’s production was desperately needed this season, after the Blazers saw 80% of their starting 5–LaMarcus Aldridge, Wes Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Robin Lopez–leave in free agency a summer ago. In spite of that, the Blazers competed last season, earned a 5th seed in the playoffs, and eliminated the Clippers in the first-round before losing to the eventual Western Conference Champion Golden State Warriors in 5 games.
With McCollum under lock and key for the foreseeable future, Lillard in the midst of a lucrative 5-year deal and Allen Crabbe about to begin play under a 4-year, $75 million deal, the Blazers have done well for themselves.
