C.J. McCollum accelerates emergence as playoffs loom

C.J. McCollum left last night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a left ankle sprain. While he seemed to be able to get off the court under his own power, an injury to McCollum would be a large blow to the Portland Trail Blazers; especially with the playoffs looming.

Discounting this game against the Thunder because of the early exit, McCollum’s previous six games had been quite superb. You can check out the stats here, but in short, during these six games, McCollum averaged an even 18.0 points per game on 53.8% shooting (38.1% from three). He scored in double figures each game, including outbursts of 26 points (against the Utah Jazz) and 27 points (against the Los Angeles Lakers). Check out his shot chart from this stretch – it’s a lot of green:

This is a case of getting more minutes and doing more with them. As he has received more minutes, McCollum has really started to blossom.

This all came in just 30.7 minutes per game, and also included a tidy 1.7 steals and only 1.3 turnovers a game. It’s safe to say that this is the version of McCollum that the Blazers hoped to draft with the 10^th pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, and it is exciting to see his development accelerate.

Let’s get back to the numbers for a second, though. I called his performance superb, and it truly is. Scoring 18 points a game on nearly 54% shooting as a guard is simply excellent. For comparison, only one guard has shot over 50% on the season (Goran Dragic, at 50.3%).

Before we get too ahead of ourselves and anoint McCollum as the next MJ, bear in mind that this happened over only six games, so this is obviously a small sample size. This level of production will eventually taper off, but it is still great to see. It is also noteworthy because McCollum has been performing his best even when called upon to do more.

These six games comprise six of the nine games that McCollum has earned the most minutes from Head Coach Terry Stotts this season. At first blush, then, it might look as if his boost in production is merely a product of getting more minutes.

Looking deeper, though, you can see that McCollum has actually been playing better in these extended minutes than he was previously (on the season McCollum is averaging roughly 6.9 points in 16 minutes on 44% shooting, a far cry from what he has been doing recently).

This isn’t a case of stats increasing only because of an increase in playing time. No, this is a case of getting more minutes and doing more with them. As he has received more minutes, McCollum has really started to blossom.

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This is fantastic for the Blazers for a number of reasons. Namely, it will help greatly with the playoffs. We still need further news on McCollum’s ankle and Nicolas Batum’s knee, but assuming McCollum can be ready for the playoffs, he can be a the scoring spark off the bench that Portland needs. If Arron Afflalo ends up having to miss time because of his shoulder injury, then McCollum can slide into that starting slot, and production anywhere near this recent level will be a huge boon.

Looking a little farther ahead, McCollum offers some insurance at the shooting guard position. Wesley Matthews is in an awkward position with his contract up and a surgically repaired Achilles. Afflalo has a player option for next season, so who knows if he will be back with the team. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding guards moving forward, and McCollum looks to be proving that he can fill that role if the need arises.

While it has been only six games, this recent stretch by McCollum has given Blazer fans a lot to be excited for, both in the short and long-term.

Next: What we learned about the Blazers this week