The reason why I don't put much weight on the summer league is because we had CJ playing point guard much of the time, and CJ is not a point guard. That much was clear. I think he's a scorer, and that's totally fine, but he's going to have a hard time finding minutes right now. Between Dame, Wes, and Mo, I really don't see a lot of time for CJ, especially with how we're playing. This is fine, in my opinion, because it puts no rush on getting him back. He can take his time, he can make sure he's fulled healed, and then once he's back we can try to fit him into the rotation. I still think a trade will have to be made at some point because we simply have too many guards.
CJ is a perfect fit for our system. He can shoot, he's unselfish, he can create. The only question is defense and I suspect that with his intelligence he'll figure it out in a 1-3 years.
But how do we get him on the floor? Mo is playing well, Wes is playing well, and CJ is coming off an injury. I don't think CJ will be happy sitting on the bench all year and only getting minutes in garbage time.
Seriously, ask me in a month and a half. At any time a player could... get a major injury, get a minor injury, develop a heart problem, get worn down, get traded, get suspended, decide he doesn't need to play defense anymore, stop passing, get caught with drugs, get caught grabbing Olshey's wife's ass.... You're question isn't completely ludicrous, but it's a bit like asking "what do we do if we're down by 3 with 2 minutes to go in game 7 of the NBA finals and Lillard has fouled out?" A fun question to be sure, but it's getting ahead of ourselves a bit.
I didn't say C.J. could not play PG for spot minutes, I said I don't think he has the skills to be a starting PG. That said, we currently have three better distributors than C.J. on this team. They are Lillard, Batum and Mo Williams. C.J. has the handle to bring the ball up the court, but has not demonstrated the court vision to run an offense. I know his teammates in summer league sucked, but he also didn't play PG in college. Although I don't think C.J. has the size to be a starting SG or the skills to be a starting PG, I think he'll be fine as a back-up combo guard. And I think as long as at least one of Lillard, Batum, or Mo Williams is on the court with him we'll be fine - as a second unit. A C.J. McCollum/Mo Williams combination would be very undersized for a starting backcourt, but would be fine against another teams second units. This is where I disagree. C.J. would be one of the smallest starting SGs in the NBA today. A quick check shows current SGs are equally divided with 10 being 6'6" and taller, 10 being right at 6'5" and 10 being 6'4" and under. C.J. is generously listed as 6'4" 200. His actual pre-draft measurements were 6' 3.25" (with shoes), 197. Ironically, Bradley Beal measured at 6'4.75" with shoes, but is officially listed as 6'3". Taking into account these discrepancies, the only current starting SGs as short as C.J are Monta Ellis, Eric Gordon and and Eric Bledsoe. With 10 starting SGs 6'6" or taller, there are still plenty of big SGs in the league. Guys like Klay Thompson (6'7"), Kevin Martin (6'7"), Joe Johnson (6'8"), DeMar Derozan (6'7"), Jimmy Butler (6'7") would have a field day against C.J. And, it's not just a lack of height, at under 200 pounds, he's very light and would get abused by stockier, stronger players like Eric Gordon, Dwyane Wade, James Harden, etc. C.J. McCollum at 6'2.25" (without shoes), 197 and Damian Lillard at 6'1.75" (without shoes), 189 would be one of the shortest, lightest starting backcourts in the NBA and would get bused on defense. That's why I think Wesley Matthews at 6'5", 220 is much better paired with Lillard as a starter and C.J. would be much better coming off the bench. BNM
Yeah, and though we pair Dame and Mo at the same time, Lillard plays the two and Mo plays the point in that situation. It's just for spot minutes. We'll just have to see how things go. Maybe he'll be crazy good...
I agree with this. His size makes me question his role. His durability makes me question his longevity. I have a hard time envisioning him being a starter next to Lillard - at best it reminds me of the Curry/Ellis backcourt. I don't pay attention to Summer League or pre-season, so neither of those are reasons for me to be concerned about him or any other player. I don't view CJ as a "throw-in" on a trade - but if there's a team out there that's interested in him and they have something we want I wouldn't hesitate to trade him.
With Mo playing reasonably well, I question just how much of an impact CJ will be able to make this year. Stotts doesn't strike me as the kind of coach that will carve out minutes for the sake of development without those minutes being earned. It'll probably take an injury to Damian, Mo or Wes for him to get time when healthy.
That's one of the benefits of having some backcourt depth. With the addition of Mo Williams, we're not really missing our rookie lottery pick. When C.J. does come back, he can be eased into the line up gradually and only given significant minutes when he has proven he deserves them. BNM
i'm confident about 3j because he has two useful skills: smarts and desire. he's a lot like dame when it comes to basketball. he has the same chip on his shoulder. i think he'll be a revelation.
You make a lot of great points. I agree with these sentiments for the immediate future. But I think in the long term its ultimately a question of how effective of an NBA player CJ will be. Will he be an elite scorer? Will he be a competent defender? Does his offense create easier opportunities for teammates? Can he setup a respectable offense without another PG on the floor? All of these questions come back to a bottom line, is he a better player than our alternative options on the team. I don’t think having a player come off the bench magically solves these shortcomings. If a player cannot be a starting PG because he has poor court vision and low awareness of teammates positioning he will have those problems on the bench. If a player gets torched on defense when he guards starting shooting guards he will be a defensive weak link for the team off the bench. How competent of an all around player will CJ be? That will ultimately determine his role and the number of minutes he plays. If he is far more effective than other teams players he will help the team. Just because we have concerns about how CJ will fit doesn’t mean his ceiling is a 6th man. We could compare him to a different Piston of that era, Joe Dumars. Joe was a 6’3” undersized shooting guard in a league with much larger shooting guards than today but formed a lethal starting backcourt. Now days players, especially guards, don’t need to be as strong or physical, it’s a totally different game. Now I agree that for the immediate future it appears CJ role would best be as a player off the bench. But farther down the line if CJ is overall a great basketball player he has a chance of working his way into a role as a starter. If CJ has major flaws in his game having him come off the bench won't make those flaws disappear.
McCollum played no better than the average Summer League scrub. He played PG and his playmaking skills sucked. He was advertised as a shooter but shot something like 35% on volume shooting. A guard-dominated league, SL is sometimes a good predictor (especially for guards) and sometimes not (especially for forwards). One year earlier, Lillard had shone brightly in SL. I think that McCollum is no Lillard, and not a good enough shooter to be a starting 6-3 SG anytime in his career. But I hope I'm wrong.
He did show some good scoring skills in summer league, but his PG play was pretty discouraging. Lillard was way better out of the box his first summer. As long as you don't see him as a PG he could be a valuable player. He does seem to be a good fit coming off the bench. I do share some of the fears that he is the dreaded tweener. Not big enough to rely on for long minutes at the 2, but without the distribution skills to play the 1. If you played him with Nic as the primary distributor that could work.
I don't agree with the concept that "preseason means nothing" and yet somehow it also means C.J. can't play PG.
CJ is a talented rookie. He has not faced NBA defenders yet and defense is his weakness so far. If he contributes anything this season given his injury, it'll be a miracle. Once Stotts keeps winning, he's not going to experiment much from here on out. Hope the kid surprises me. He can create his own shot and he does have a high hoops IQ. We'll see Barton on the court before CJ gets much burn I think. Earl Watson is the better pt guard and CJ is a natural yet undersized 2 guard.
I think he is going to be an offensive juggernaut in the mold of Montae Ellis and probably better. He is going to be able to play the two guard position and he will give Matthews a run for this starting position. If you look closely, there are several insiders who are a part of the organization and who are not a part of the organization who love this guy. And there is a reason for it. Looking forward to the extra depth he is going to bring to the bench and team.
