CJ McCollum The Key To Portland Taking That Next Step

By nearly every account, the 2013-2014 season was a good one for the Portland Trail Blazers. They were not only able to make the playoffs, but they also won a first-round series against the Houston Rockets. The Western Conference is stacked, and the San Antonio Spurs eventually eliminated them rather easily. To take the next forward, this team will be looking for someone to step their game up this upcoming year. The guy most likely to add a spark to the team is CJ McCollum.

Since he was banged up quite a bit in his rookie year, people sometimes forget that he was a lottery pick in 2013. Of course, being forgotten and overlooked is something that has been the part of McCollum’s life for quite some time. He had a prolific career at Lehigh, but that kept him out of the national spotlight for a while. Now, he has a chance to earn a pretty significant role on a playoff contender going into his 2^nd year.

McCollum had to wait until January to make his 1^st appearance in the NBA last season. He was only able to play 38 games, and he averaged about 12.5 minutes per contest. People in fantasy basketball were not exactly running to grab him, but his 2^nd year might be a little bit different.

The guard started out his 2^nd year in the NBA with a stint in the summer league. He was able to average just over 20 points per game while shooting 48% from the field. Obviously, no one is going to mistake summer league action for the actual NBA, but it was much needed for a guy who needed game experience to get back on track. It definitely gave Portland confidence in him as well, as they seem to be set on using him as the top reserve guard to begin the year. That means plenty of playing time, and plenty of opportunities to put up numbers in fantasy basketball.

McCollum will bring shooting and ballhandling to the team, and he has good size the play either guard position at the NBA level. People compared him a lot to Damian Lillard coming out of college because they do have quite a few similarities, but realistically his potential probably isn’t that high. However, there is no reason to not think that McCollum could eventually evolve into a starter at the NBA level. This year, the team is just hoping he can be an upgrade over the departed Mo Williams to make the team better.