Rip City Project
Fansided

Portland Trail Blazers: 15 best draft picks of all-time

By John Buhler

BOSTON - 1970: Bill Walton #32 of the Portland Trailblazers makes a pass against the Boston Celtics during the NBA game at the Boston Garden in Boston, Masachussetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON - 1970: Bill Walton #32 of the Portland Trailblazers makes a pass against the Boston Celtics during the NBA game at the Boston Garden in Boston, Masachussetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 15
Next
CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers
(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

He has only completed five years of his NBA career so far, yet he has already cracked the top-15 in terms of all-time Trail Blazer draft picks. Assuming he doesn’t get dealt in the coming years, shooting guard C.J. McCollum stands a great chance to get into the top-10, and perhaps climb even higher. The Trail Blazers used their No. 10 overall pick to draft McCollum out of Lehigh in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Initially, taking another small-school backcourt player inside of the lottery seemed like a redundancy with Damian Lillard already at the point. However, the backcourt duo of Lillard and McCollum have helped usher in a new era of exciting Trail Blazers basketball. It took McCollum a few years to get going, but he effectively replaced power forward LaMarcus Aldridge as the Trail Blazers’ other star player opposite of Lillard.

In 2015-16, McCollum would be named the NBA’s Most Improved Player. He averaged 20.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game in 34.8 minutes per contest that season. Since that campaign, the Trail Blazers can count on 35 minutes a night and 21 points per game 80 nights a year out of McCollum. Though not yet an NBA All-Star, we have to believe that McCollum will make the Western Conference squad one day. If not, well, then’s he’s the shooting guard version of Mike Conley, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

To date, McCollum has averaged 17.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in 29.2 minutes per contest. Though overshadowed by Lillard, McCollum is about as good of a running mate at star point guard could ever ask for in the NBA. Maybe he can be a Portland version of Joe Dumars if Lillard is of the Isiah Thomas variety? Regardless, McCollum is a fantastic player that only seems to get better each year in the league.