The Portland Trail Blazers have a new team identity in the second year of their rebuild. Portland is trying to build a lengthy, athletic, and defensive-minded roster, as evidenced by their additions of Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, and Toumani Camara. They are still a few seasons away from seeing the roster vision come to fruition, as they currently sit 13th in the Western Conference with a 13-24 record.
In the scheme of things, it's best for Portland's long-term outlook to have such a bad record. But as a fan, it can be discouraging to watch your team consistently lose. Especially for the Blazers' fans, who had an incredible stretch in the Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum era.
Despite their regular season success, it was the right decision for Portland to split up their backcourt. But it does make it difficult to watch the Blazers struggle while Lillard and McCollum continue to have such great individual success on their respective teams.
CJ McCollum remains a lethal scoring option with recent 38 and 50-point performances
McCollum is averaging 26.5 points while shooting an efficient 49.5 percent from the field and 46.8 percent from beyond the arc in the past ten games.
In that stretch, he's had four games of scoring over 30 points, including a 50-point performance in a win over the Washington Wizards and, most recently, a 38-point output in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Pelicans were without Zion Williamson (suspended) and Brandon Ingram (ankle), yet still managed to beat Philadelphia on the road, largely thanks to McCollum. His recent surge has helped lead the struggling Pelicans to wins in three of their past five games, a massive improvement over their 20.5 win percentage this season.
New Orleans entered the season with playoff aspirations, but that has been far from the case, as they've had to endure several injuries to key players. McCollum has been one of the lone bright spots when healthy, averaging 22.7 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds on 46/38/69 shooting splits in 26 games. He's upped his play even more heading into 2025.
Those 30-point performances are nothing new to Trail Blazers fans, as CJ has had 93 games of scoring 30 or more points in his career. In nine seasons with Portland, McCollum is fifth on the Blazers' all-time scoring list with 10,710 points. His impact on the offensive end as a three-level scorer is what makes McCollum arguably one of the top ten Blazers of all time.
His play has seamlessly transferred over in his four seasons with the Pelicans. But as the Blazers eventually parted ways with McCollum despite his productivity, CJ's time in New Orleans may be coming to an end. Given their porous 8-31 record, it's apparent that the Pelicans should be building toward the future, leaving the 33-year-old McCollum's fit in question.
Despite his age, McCollum remains an elite scorer and would be a valuable addition to a contender, as he's shown in the past few games. This should come as no surprise to any Blazers fans who watched him for those nine years in Rip City.