Former Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum is now a member of the Atlanta Hawks after the Washington Wizards included him as part of the trade package to land Trae Young. The role McCollum had to play in this trade materializing always made his future in Atlanta uncertain.
From Atlanta's standpoint, this trade was more financially motivated than anything else. They wanted to create financial flexibility by getting off of Young's massive $49 million player option for next season. With the Wizards and Young expressing mutual interest, McCollum's expiring $30.7 million salary made perfect sense to include to make this a seemingly win-win deal. Washington doesn't have to sacrifice future assets to land a four-time All-Star. Atlanta keeps its books clean, aside from Corey Kispert's reasonable contract.
When Portland was shopping McCollum, the Hawks expressed interest before the Blazers ultimately sent him to the Pelicans. But that was in 2022. You have to translate that elapsed time into dog years, given how quickly the NBA landscape changes. The Hawks are a young team that is now retooling around rising star Jalen Johnson. They no longer have a need for a 34-year-old McCollum. The combination of his expiring contract and their conflicting timelines already made it seem like McCollum only had half a season in Atlanta until he landed elsewhere.
The only reason to make this anything more permanent would be to have a valuable veteran mentor to help develop their young core. However, McCollum's style of play is having the opposite effect on this roster.
CJ McCollum already looks like a bad fit for the Hawks
The Hawks are 1-4 since he joined the team. During that stretch, he's had a 29.7% usage rate -- higher than Trade Young's and currently the highest on the team. For an up-and-coming Hawks team, that has to be concerning.
At least when Young had the ball in his hands, he was looking to set up teammates as one of the best passers in the league. McCollum is typically looking to score, which is hindering their team's progress.
CJ still has plenty of gas left in the tank. He can provide value with that style of play on another team that's in need of shot-creation and win-now help, but early returns suggest that he's not a great fit in Atlanta.
With the Feb. 5 trade deadline approaching, the Hawks now have to decide whether to let this messy situation play out for the remainder of the season or make another trade. If they do decide to trade McCollum before the deadline, they can't aggregate him in a deal, but they can still trade him straight up. That complicates the situation, as it could be challenging to find a team that can logistically take on his salary midseason. But given how poorly things have started in Atlanta, that's becoming an increasingly realistic possibility.
If they do keep CJ past the deadline, it'll be up to head coach Quin Snyder to change the offensive hierarchy. As much as we love CJ for everything he's done in Portland, in no world should he be the focal point over Jalen Johnson.
One way or another, they'll have to address the situation. While Atlanta achieved their financial goals with this trade, it's currently coming at the expense of something much more valuable: the development of their youth.