Notice SI: McCollum for Wiggins Trade Should but Won’t Happen

[BigGameDamian]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bl...lum-andrew-wiggins-trail-blazers-timberwolves

Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated explains why a McCollum-Wiggins swap makes sense but why the trade won’t happen.

Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

Heading into last weekend, the Sports Illustrated staff collaborated to share their ideas for NBA trades that make sense but, for various reasons, won’t happen. Ben Golliver sent Paul George to the Cavaliers, Rob Mahoney sent George Hill to the Bucks, Rohan Nadkarni sent DeMarcus Cousins to the Celtics, Andrew Sharp sent Eric Bledsoe to the Spurs, and Jeremy Woo sent CJ McCollum to the Timberwolves—in exchange for former No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins.

Why it should happen: C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard are similar. Andrew Wiggins and Jimmy Butler are similar. Breaking up both pairings would conceivably round out both teams!

Why it won’t happen: Financial difficulties aside (the Blazers are in the tax and Wiggins’ big extension doesn’t kick in until next year), both teams are in position to be patient here.

McCollum trade rumors seem to crop up every year, but as a dynamic low-maintenance, still-improving scorer, Portland shouldn’t be ready to punt. That backcourt poses defensive issues, but the ability to have Lillard or McCollum on the court at all times is still a luxury. Whenever the weight of both contracts saddles the Blazers more than the value of two All-Star caliber guards is when this gets real, and I don’t think we’re there yet—especially not when it would mean eating even more long-term money with Wiggins’s deal.

To read about how McCollum could help the Timberwolves and why Minnesota still wouldn’t pull the trigger, check out the full article, here.

What do you think, Portland? Is there a conceivable timeline where the Trail Blazers do this deal, and would you want them to? What would have to happen for either team to consider this trade? How would the Trail Blazers improve or regress?

 

[theprunetang]

Definitely not a guy I would target in a CJ deal.

 

[Strenuus]

"Here Minnesota, win another trade."

 

[handiman]

If you ignore talent, work ethic, and salaries, then yeah, it makes a lot of sense.

 

[SIeepwalker]

Why it won’t happen: The Blazers aren't dumb ass fuck

FTFY

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yaa5zgue

 

[Hey]

I don't necessarily think Wiggins is better than CJ but I do think he would make us better and has a higher overall ceiling. The article makes a solid point that both teams have a redudancy issue.

 

[SportsAndWhine]

I don't necessarily think Wiggins is better than CJ but I do think he would make us better and has a higher overall ceiling. The article makes a solid point that both teams have a redudancy issue.

Yeah but it should be Butler for CJ not Wiggins for CJ

 

[SportsAndWhine]

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yaa5zgue

I always wanted to see us play a 7-man rotation...

 

[illmatic99]

That's actually a decent idea.

 

[Hey]

Yeah but it should be Butler for CJ not Wiggins for CJ

They're not going to trade their prized off-season addition. He is basically what the Timberwolves hope Wiggins will become: an all-star two way wing.

 

[SportsAndWhine]

They're not going to trade their prized off-season addition. He is basically what the Timberwolves hope Wiggins will become: an all-star two way wing.

Wiggins isn't worth CJ. Butler is. Gotta pay to play.

 

[Hey]

Wiggins isn't worth CJ. Butler is. Gotta pay to play.

If you think McCollum is that much better than Wiggins, you need to take your homer glasses off. There's a decent argument for both being better than the other. It's only been a few years of seeing CJ featured full time but I think we all pretty much know his ceiling by now. He's a crafty finisher with excellent shooting, but he can be ball hog that makes mistakes from trying too hard with hero ball. He's not a reliable point guard and he's a liability on defense due to his job on offense and size at his position without much room for growth defensively.

Wiggins isn't as efficient shooting but he's a better and stronger finisher at the rim and showing an improvement in his jumper throughout the years. Defensively he should be a lot better than he's shown but he's also been asked to carry the load on some bad Minnesota teams. He definitely has the tools to become an elite or better than defender and I'd be willing to take the gamble. Only because I've seen what we have with Lillard and CJ together and I don't think it's ever going to be championship material. At least with Wiggins there's an unknown possibility that it forms into something more balanced.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Fuck not the redundancy thing again. Count how many minutes they were on the floor tonight. ....together.
And they play different positions....or at least they should. Right now ET can play with either. Long term maybe they need to upgrade that 3rd guard. But redundancy is not an accurate description halfway through the 1st and 3rd quarter until halfway into the 2nd and 4th.

This team needs more shooters not less.

 

[Hey]

Fuck not the redundancy thing again. Count how many minutes they were on the floor tonight. ....together.
And they play different positions....or at least they should. Right now ET can play with either. Long term maybe they need to upgrade that 3rd guard. But redundancy is not an accurate description halfway through the 1st and 3rd quarter until halfway into the 2nd and 4th.

This team needs more shooters not less.

If you don't think redundancy is a problem, then I don't know what to tell you. They are two combo scoring guards who rely on their handles and a quick trigger. They don't always share the floor but they do a lot, especially in crunch time. When they are both on the court, they just take turns playing iso rather than effectively play off each other.

I'm not clamoring for a CJ trade, but if this was ever actually offered, the Blazers would be fools if they didn't think long and hard about it. In other words, it's not a "I'm hanging up" offer that some of you are making it out to be.

 

[Rhal]

Lillard and CJ are not redundant. That is an argument that is only made by people who watch maybe 8 Blazer games a year, as is the Steph/Monte arguement.

 

[SIeepwalker]

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yaa5zgue

Hollinger's analysis is about right, what a shit trade

 

[dviss1]

I was going to post something I thought was smart and concise but it looks like you guys have handled it for me.

 

[illmatic99]

Hollinger's analysis is about right, what a shit trade

Bledsoe rates as possibly the worst player in the league atm. He was a part of two losses by nearly 50, and didn't play in their bounce back after.

 

[TBpup]

Lillard and CJ are not redundant. That is an argument that is only made by people who watch maybe 8 Blazer games a year, as is the Steph/Monte arguement.

I watched 85 games last season (missed one due to travel). Of course they aren't exactly the same but there are a lot of similarities.

Similar size. Not bad if one is a smaller scoring guard but when both are, it creates defensive problems. No surprise here.
Ball dominant scoring guards. CJ is more mid-range/perimeter while Dame is more '3'/layin/FT but neither passes a lot given the amount of time they have control over the ball. When they do pass, it is often just to each other. Again, nothing new here.
Poor defense. Dame is a little better this year but that is in comparison to quite poor. CJ still looks lost most of the time or just not trying.

Numerous times per season, they give up season highs, career highs, or in the case of Yogi Ferrell, get him a guaranteed contract out of the D-League. Their defense also causes problems for Portland's bigs as they get in foul trouble having to switch out on a smaller player or have to pick up an opponent running completely free down the lane. I just see a lot more similarities than differences.

 

[BBert]

I was going to post something I thought was smart and concise but it looks like you guys have handled it for me.

What a smart and concise post.

Kudos.

 

[Reep]

What I'm trying to figure out is how we have two smallish guards with good handles, who list scoring as their strength and they can figure out how to evade defenders or avoid traps--and not dribble ball out of bounds.

 

[Denny Crane]

I don't think this is a bad idea at all.

Minny is 5-3 with 2 of those losses being blowouts when Butler was out.

The problem is Minny probably won't do it. Thibs signed Teague to be his PG and I don't think they want another PG.

If Thibs did want to go with a smurf back court, he could move Butler to SF, Wiggins' spot.

Wiggins is only 22 and has a ton of upside still.

 

[Destroyer of Worlds]

Didn’t read the article, CJ is a top 5 SG in the league so Wiggins + what?

Wiggins isn’t even close to CJ in value.

 

[Blazers Roy]

So we should make this trade because Wiggins is taller than CJ? because that's the only advantage he has.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Our biggest weakness is defense. Wiggins doesn't help our defense. He makes it worse. No thanks.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

Also no thanks to trading a guy who led the league in FT shooting for a guy who is currently shooting .558 from the line.

BNM

 

[JDC]

Also no thanks to trading a guy who led the league in FT shooting for a guy who is currently shooting .558 from the line.

BNM

Hmmm. Almost all of Wiggins' value comes from his ability to draw and make foul shots. He's struggling to hit them now but it's early.

Besides size, its literally the only other advantage he has on CJ.

 

[Rhal]

I watched 85 games last season (missed one due to travel). Of course they aren't exactly the same but there are a lot of similarities.

Similar size. Not bad if one is a smaller scoring guard but when both are, it creates defensive problems. No surprise here.
Ball dominant scoring guards. CJ is more mid-range/perimeter while Dame is more '3'/layin/FT but neither passes a lot given the amount of time they have control over the ball. When they do pass, it is often just to each other. Again, nothing new here.
Poor defense. Dame is a little better this year but that is in comparison to quite poor. CJ still looks lost most of the time or just not trying.

Numerous times per season, they give up season highs, career highs, or in the case of Yogi Ferrell, get him a guaranteed contract out of the D-League. Their defense also causes problems for Portland's bigs as they get in foul trouble having to switch out on a smaller player or have to pick up an opponent running completely free down the lane. I just see a lot more similarities than differences.

When you break it down like that you can do the same thing for most teams with their 1/2 options as PG/SG. Dame avgs 6.2 assists in his career he moves the ball a lot, he just also shoots a lot as well and when it gets into "crunch" time he will ISO the hell out of the ball. CJ on the other hand does not pass as much and plays a much different role on offense, both are also fine playing off the ball.
There D is bad but i'm not so convinced that its purely on them, Stotts "funnel" D is all about letting the ball get into mid-range and forcing contested 2 instead of 3's and points in the paint. Unfortunately we have seen that without both a PF and C that are above average on D and can switch this does not work out but Stotts still runs it that way.
Dame and CJ are similar in a lot of ways but I think its the same if you look at most pairs of PG/SG's in the league as the positions are very similar in todays NBA.

 

[Rhal]

If Wiggins was a good defender then this trade would make sense, Wiggins can get there he just isn't at the moment. The only way i'd make that trade is if I think Wiggins has more value to NO then CJ because if NO keeps sucking they are going to have to blow it up and i'm calling and offering everything under the sun for AD.