The Trail Blazers are blessed with two of the best guards in the NBA. Why does CJ McCollum fly under the radar and why does he deserve more credit?
Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum has scored 20 points a game for what is now his fifth straight year, not only is he one of the fittest players in the league, he is also one of the most durable. McCollum isn’t big in frame or in stature but he brings it on a nightly basis against some of the best wing defenders in the league.
For some strange reason, when this team goes through a period of poor play, trading McCollum seems to be a popular subject in Blazers circles. McCollum is one of the most consistent scorers in the league, and his efficiency is up there with the best also. Why does McCollum deserve more credit than he is getting?
Availability
The best ability is availability. McCollum has only missed 17 out of 358 regular season games since the start of the 2015/16 season. When you are a max player and the number two guy on a playoff team, not missing games is massive. His only significant injury in the past five seasons was ten missed games last season. CJ is a trooper, through the Blazers significant injury issues he has barely skipped a beat.
McCollum’s conditioning is amazing, as evidenced by the sixty minutes he played in the overtime thriller against the Denver Nuggets in last year playoffs, he is one of the fittest players in the league.
Efficiency
In the analytics age, where mid range shots are a bad shot, McCollum makes mid range shots almost better than anyone else. He is regularly in the top five players in the league when it comes to making mid-range jumpers.
His ability to score from multiple spots on the floor makes him a nightmare for defenders. McCollum’s efficiency though, separates him from most of the other guards in the league.
Not only is he the only player in the league to keep alive a four-year streak of 20 plus points a game while shooting threes at 37 plus percent, when you combine his efficiency from two he is in some pretty glorified company.
His splits of 46 percent from two, 37 from three and 80 percent from the line have been consistent bars that he hasn’t gone under since year two of his career. Though these numbers are ‘ cherry picked, ‘ McCollum joins names such as Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, Ray Allen and Larry Bird who have achieved these numbers for more than four seasons in a row.
McCollum is one of the most efficient shooters in the league. That’s a fact.
Raises his game in the playoffs
When it matters the most, McCollum elevates his game. His playoff points per game average is higher than his regular season numbers. 18.1 to 19.6 may not seem like a big jump but there are plenty of all-time great players who couldn’t elevate or even keep their averages the same from the regular season.
For example in the seven game classic with the Nuggets last year, Damian Lillard was struggling after a huge series in the previous round. McCollum took over to the tune of 26 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists for the series. He led the team in minutes playing a whopping 42 minutes a game, as well as leading both teams in made field goals.
McCollum is unflappable in the big games, and his chemistry with the Lillard is such that they know when the other is hot and distribute the ball accordingly.
CJ McCollum might not be the year in year out all-star that people want him to be, but all-star nods don’t mean anything when it comes to the playoffs. McCollum is a consistent, efficient scorer who can run the offense on both the first and second units.
He is one of the best shooters in the league and has proven this in the regular season and the playoffs. The second option on a team can cop a lot of hate. This isn’t fair, and in McCollum’s case isn’t warranted. Appreciate this man, he is at the peak of his powers and is having another massive year.