Trade CJ McCollum to New Orleans

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

What we end up having is a Pelicans team that probably still will have Zion on the roster, and still will be paying him while he sits and rehabs, and won't be adding a lottery pick to complement what they have.

How that has any bearing on an observation that the Pelicans this year after acquiring CJ are any different a team than the Blazers were with CJ, I don't know. Both teams are slightly below .500 that have problems defending and sharing the ball. Why that's such an offensive comment to some people, I don't know.
 
It's silly that I keep being asked to defend a position that I never took, but it's even sillier that the rebuttal to the position I'm getting pounded over is out of some kind of fan fiction.

You did start it with: "Seriously, though, I look at the Pelicans roster -- minus Zion -- and it's almost like CJ left the Blazers and went to Blazers v2. The NO roster looks like it was comprised in much the same way. It's very flawed. Last night, they had 20 assists on 44 FGs and most of those came when they were trying to fight back from being down a dozen at half; that sounds very Blazers of the last few years. Memphis had 29 assists on 47 FGs even without Ja."

I'm not sure how you can comment on roster construction being flawed and simultaneously be offended by people pointing out it's an entirely different situation with a healthy Zion. Just because you said "minus Zion," doesn't let you off the hook on the overall comment. :) They may not get any better at sharing ball, but it's a night and day difference in how teams try to defend them.
 
Portland was 2-10 in the last 12 games CJ McCollum played in for the Blazers.
Since the trade, the Blazers are 4-0.

That is a small sample size, but drastic enough to not be a complete coincidence.
 
You guys need to let it go. You would think that after CJ was traded we would not have to bash him every game. Yet we have at least two threads doing so. It is not all about CJ but more about the player's everyone bitched about us trading for. (And Simons and Nurk who we also bitched about)
 
You guys need to let it go. You would think that after CJ was traded we would not have to bash him every game. Yet we have at least two threads doing so. It is not all about CJ but more about the player's everyone bitched about us trading for.

It's a LOT about getting CJ out of Ant's way. Been wanting the trade for 6 years. It will take a bit to get out of my system.
 
It's a LOT about getting CJ out of Ant's way. Been wanting the trade for 6 years. It will take a bit to get out of my system.

Agree. But it wasn't until this year that Ant was ready, making the choice to trade CJ obvious. We always needed a third guard like Hart and we never had one. Having said all that, Simons is playing better than CJ, and possibly as good as Dame. He can make more types of shots than Dame
 
Agree. But it wasn't until this year that Ant was ready, making the choice to trade CJ obvious. We always needed a third guard like Hart and we never had one. Having said all that, Simons is playing better than CJ, and possibly as good as Dame. He can make more types of shots than Dame

It wasn't until this year that Ant got the opportunity he has received. It's difficult to believe that only now, he had this sudden ability. It's just that CJ (and to some extent, Dame) were in his way. That is my fear going forward. Dame will come back, and through no fault of his own other than being who he is (great), Ant's opportunities, as well as the additional opportunities we see for the rest of the team, will be diminished.

Just wish one of them were about 6'8", playing a completely different position, with defensive chops, and this wouldn't be near the issue.
 
Portland was 2-10 in the last 12 games CJ McCollum played in for the Blazers.
Since the trade, the Blazers are 4-0.

That is a small sample size, but drastic enough to not be a complete coincidence.
Don't forget that we were on a winning streak BEFORE CJ came back...

Still love the guy, but it was even more painful watching him after he came back, having seen the running and gunning we'd been doing before then. Still, I really hope he can be successful and beloved for the Pelicans. So far, the team success isn't really there, but I think they're still happy with the trade:

 
It wasn't until this year that Ant got the opportunity he has received. It's difficult to believe that only now, he had this sudden ability. It's just that CJ (and to some extent, Dame) were in his way.

I have been one of Simons's biggest advocates on this board. Never swaying from "don't trade Ant group". You could see the potential early on.
But that was at SG especially after he made 13 straight to set an NBA record last year.

At PG you could see he was improving last year when he was given the opportunity to run the 2nd unit. But it was not until this year when you could really see that he actually could be a true PG. And that was obvious early on in the year.

Did CJ really hold him back or did Stotts style of ball hold him back? Or was it as simple as he was not quite ready? I think it was both Stotts and he was still learning the position which is clearly the most difficult position to learn in the NBA. He had the opportunity before this year, he just was not read.
 
I have been one of Simons's biggest advocates on this board. Never swaying from "don't trade Ant group". You could see the potential early on.
But that was at SG especially after he made 13 straight to set an NBA record last year.

At PG you could see he was improving last year when he was given the opportunity to run the 2nd unit. But it was not until this year when you could really see that he actually could be a true PG. And that was obvious early on in the year.

Did CJ really hold him back or did Stotts style of ball hold him back? Or was it as simple as he was not quite ready? I think it was both Stotts and he was still learning the position which is clearly the most difficult position to learn in the NBA. He had the opportunity before this year, he just was not read.
Before CJ was injured, he would control last possessions. With him gone, Ant would control end of clock/game possessions. When he came back from injury, coach had Ant continue to control those possessions. This was the writing on the wall for a CJ trade. So, even Billups "held Ant back", but only for so long.
 
First, this is the third time I guess I'm going to have to say that we weren't talking about next year or the year after. What the Pels might or might not have next year has zero impact on what they put on the floor in the last couple of months this year, how they don't share the ball, don't defend, don't win consistently, and how it stands to impact the Blazers in the 2022 lottery.

BUT ...

For years I've read on this board how horrible CJ was, or what a bad fit he was, or how he couldn't share the ball or defend. Now, in the space of a few hours, without even trying, I seem to have consolidated people that CJ McCollum is star-spangled awesome and just the piece the Pels needed to be a contender.

Also, everyone seems to be pointing out that the Pels with Zion are a lot better than the Pels without Zion. Well, duh. I'd tell you I hate to be mean about that, but I don't, because I qualified that in the very first post I made on the subject. However, Zion playing and being at optimum level at this point is kind of presumptuous, isn't it? While we've been having this discussion, it's being reported he might need another surgery on his foot. He's played 85 games in three years. He was hurt in college.

And the Pelicans are 40-45 with Zion.

That's 40-45 with Zion and Ingram, too. Some of that time they also had Jrue Holiday, Lonzo Ball. Good players who reading this board I've been told are superior to CJ McCollum for years.

Anyway, this wasn't even my argument, but, since people keep wanting to force it on me, I'll take it. Feel free to explain how the heck any of you know Zion is coming back and will be what he was when he was healthy and how the addition of him and CJ solve the Pelicans' issues with playing defense and passing the ball, because I don't think either of them do that, and Brandon Ingram's been there this whole time, too, and I don't see him suddenly becoming Magic Johnson.

It's silly that I keep being asked to defend a position that I never took, but it's even sillier that the rebuttal to the position I'm getting pounded over is out of some kind of fan fiction.

I probably should have used green font.
 
There is almost no chance the Pelicans are worst-4 bad.
Orlando, Detroit, Houston are pretty much guaranteed to not win 23 games (the current amount of wins the Pels have).

OKC will probably pass that amount but finish behind them.

The issue is the worst 6 have a legitimate chance at the top 4, and the Pels are looking like a lock for a bottom 6 record (or close to it).
 
There is almost no chance the Pelicans are worst-4 bad.
Orlando, Detroit, Houston are pretty much guaranteed to not win 23 games (the current amount of wins the Pels have).

OKC will probably pass that amount but finish behind them.

The issue is the worst 6 have a legitimate chance at the top 4, and the Pels are looking like a lock for a bottom 6 record (or close to it).
exactly that's what I am talking about, would rather have them at 7-10 for better odds
 
There is almost no chance the Pelicans are worst-4 bad.
Orlando, Detroit, Houston are pretty much guaranteed to not win 23 games (the current amount of wins the Pels have).

OKC will probably pass that amount but finish behind them.

The issue is the worst 6 have a legitimate chance at the top 4, and the Pels are looking like a lock for a bottom 6 record (or close to it).
Yeah wherever they end up 5-10 we just have to have them get a little unlucky or if you want to look at it in a positive light we have to get just a little lucky but even if they're at 5 the odds will be better than 50/50 that we keep the pick.
 
I'd like to have two lottery picks, but I'll take the Pels in the 5-10 range if that's all we get. This will be a deep draft!
 
Yeesh, Luca with 35 shots tonight against the Pels. He took 43% of the Mavs' shots.
 
I'd like to have two lottery picks, but I'll take the Pels in the 5-10 range if that's all we get. This will be a deep draft!

Is this draft deep? Or you mean the talent is relatively flat after say #1 or so to 15 or so?
 
I look at this draft as one guy really above the others, then three or four guys that are that next tier that have the capabilities to be major difference-makers if they reach their ceiling, and then there are about eight guys that I consider pretty close and after that it's an absolute crapshoot.

Like, I look at Bennedict Mathurin and I think he COULD be something like Khris Middleton, but will he be that good? Probably not.
 
I look at this draft as one guy really above the others, then three or four guys that are that next tier that have the capabilities to be major difference-makers if they reach their ceiling, and then there are about eight guys that I consider pretty close and after that it's an absolute crapshoot.

Like, I look at Bennedict Mathurin and I think he COULD be something like Khris Middleton, but will he be that good? Probably not.
Is your one guy who is really above the others Jabari?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top