Who would you trade CJ McCollum for?

I have a feeling we'll be saying the same thing about Simmons in a couple years.

 

It really does come down to outside shooting for wing players. Durant was a "great" shooter in his one year in college and is in the NBA as well.

Wiggins was a good but not great shooter in college and has yet to become one in the NBA. Still early, but if he never does then he will never be a great nBA player.

I have no idea about Simmons. I see a lot of highlights for him but none are from deep. If he plays SF in the NBA he will need to be a great outside shooter to be a great NBA player IMO. It is too easy to defend the ones who can't score from everywhere. (3pt, mid range and attacking the basket) You have to be able to do it all.

 

first game I saw Vucevic play he got 29 pts and 29 rebounds...he's a beast..better than B Lopez anyday. He's a perfect Stotts big man...and it's not like CJ is a defensive stopper either..scoring for scoring. Oladipo is a great defender

 

I think he'll be a power forward and small ball center.

With the way the NBA is going I wonder if they'll change the "power" forward moniker at somepoint.

 

So are you talking about CJ or Wiggins? Their statistics are quite similar this season with Wiggins shooting better from the field and CJ better from '3'. They average the same amount of minutes, get the same amount of rebounds and CJ gets 4.4 assists compared to 1.8. One big difference is CJ is 24 and Wiggins is 20. Wiggins is doing this at a point when CJ was still in college. Wiggins gets to the line much more often and for his career, has higher numbers than CJ.

So both can score, neither plays very good defense, CJ passes more, Wiggins gets to the line more often. If it were possible, I would strongly consider it because while CJ might be a bit more polished, Wiggins isn't that far behind, is 4 years younger and at 6'8", more of a potential mismatch down the road.

 

CJ for Monroe is a big time overpay by us, he could be had IMO easily without CJ
Vucevic's D is simply really bad and frankly CJ for Vuc is IMO an overpay, would need more coming back.

I'd like a defensive shot blocking C who can guard many positions, so I like CJ for Nerlens Noel
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just an FYI look, but Wiggins is already one of the best defenders in the league. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him on the same kind of growth curve as Kawhi.

 

I've got to say: I'm not opposed to trading CJ, but I have been underwhelmed by Wiggins. He's a solid scorer but he seems to be a net "meh" for his influence on a game. CJ can already score. If Wiggins was a lockdown wing defender or had possible point-forward ability, then sure. But neither appears true. I see him as a Rudy Gay type down the road. I wouldn't do CJ for Wiggins.

I'm sure I'm pretty much alone in this position, but I'd be more likely to consider Tristan Thompson (if we're trading for Canadians). I'm sure the vast majority of people think Wiggins is way better than Thompson, but (a) who cares? and (b) certainly not at the areas we're weak in, predominantly a versatile excellent frontcourt defender.

Again going out alone on a limb: I think down the road Kyle Anderson is going to be a very good player, and pretty much unique. What I like most about him is that he could pair in a backcourt with Lillard and give us great size while allowing Lillard to play off the ball. Right now there's no question that CJ is the more developed player, but Anderson broke out in Summer League and would be getting major minutes on a worse team. If we got him as part of a package for CJ I wouldn't cry. Of course, sending another Blazer to the Spurs might just break this board.

 

Just read this (having said Wiggins isn't). What's your evidence? That would change my view (but also make a trade very unlikely - why would the Wolves do that?)

(For what it's worth, Wiggins is ranked 88th out of 90 shooting guards in DRPM. Right below Bojan Bogdanovic. His teammate, the notorious matador Kevin Martin, is 81st.)

 

CJ is a very special player, how many players in the league can get you so many buckets out of nothing? why are we forgetting that he is probably the best midrange shooter in the whole NBA or at least one of them? why are we overlooking his much improved passing ability?

I don't see any urgent need to trade CJ right now, but here are the players i would consider:

Centers\Forwards - Blake Griffin,PG,Andre Drummond,Anthony Davis (i'll add Crabbe and Plumlee + 2 first rounders)
Guards - Russel Westbrook,Butler,John Wall (maybe).

Other than that? meh...i'm not taking the risk for guys like Wiggins or Vucevic, watch them shoot bricks or messing up our interior defense.

 

Basically just Anthony Davis, maybe Okafor as mentioned in the other thread.

 

Actually, I'm watching Bos vs. Orl right now & they said that only Payton & Mario r untouchable every1 else is available I like Vucevic; him + Oladipo & Gordon would b awesome!

 

We can get Vuc & then get a pure defensive effective 5/4 that is ok w/ fewer minutes (i.e. Boban Marjanovic).

 

I honestly haven't seen much of Wiggins and when I did, he wasn't impacting the game that much..didn't know he was 20 but does he move the needle? Is he going to get us closer to playoff success than CJ? My answer is, I don't know enough about him, but CJ is a baller right now. I like that he's 6'8 and heard somebody on NBA tv saying he doesn't have a jump shot yet...if it's potential...is he going to be that much better than Harkless given a year or so with the team? Maybe...wasn't he out a lot with injury from the time they drafted him?

 

Not sure Orlando would make this for starters. Besides I love Plumlee's game, and in Stotts' motion offense it's actually nice to have 2 similar guards because that means you have the same threat at two points on the court. Can be hard to guard with 2 elite pick and roll guards, and our big's have continued to improve on the pick and roll as well.

A little over half way through season one and we are already seeing Plumlee run the break and hook up with Meyers. How many other teams in the NBA are capable of running big man to big man fast breaks? I think the only thing Olshey will look to do is look for a big FA signing to make our rotation even deeper.

 

I think CJ for Wiggins is crazy. McCollum is kind of like Harden in the sense that he can't be stopped from getting his, and both are extremely crafty with great moves off the dribble. But CJ isn't out for those bogus antics that Harden is known for. He's also a guy that plays unselfish team ball. He's a great fit for the players system Olshey has built where the goal is to find the open man and nobody on the court is being left standing in the corner while someone runs a play or ISO's. You see more teams trying to build systems like this after seeing how much success the Spurs have had with it for years.

 

The Blazers have multiple mechanism to improve:
1. Lopsided financial trade to help out a team near or over the tax line. Blazers improve or pick up assets without giving up any significant pieces.
2. Free agent signing. Blazers will have enough CAP space to sign a max free agent next summer. Blazers improve without giving up any significant pieces.
3. Stand pat and develop the current players. Players such as Vonleh (20), Harkless (22), Alexander (20), Montero (22), and Connaughton (23) have potential to grow. That course paid high dividends this year with the development of McCollum and Crabbe. The jury is still out on Leonard. Blazers improve without giving up any significant pieces.

The trading of CJ will most likely not result in the Blazers receiving a more talented player. At best it will result in a player of equal talent, but at a position that better balances our team.

I'm not a big fan of trading for 'potential'. We know what we have in CJ. A high character guy that is unselfish and playing at a level just a step below the all-stars - and I don't think he's peaked.

Unless Olshey is presented with a no brainer trade, I'd prefer we not trade CJ and go with the other 3 options noted above. Now if names such as Curry and James come up, I'm listening....

 

I've said it before- but DRPM is a trash stat. Nothing REALLY quantifies defense that spectacularly - but DRPM and it's closet methodology is laughable at best. It's HEAVILY skewed towards bigs and brings in a lot of different outliers that no one can really confirm where/how the impact is rated. I'm not knocking you for using it, a lot of people do- I just refuse to use data that I can't verify on my own b/c of some proprietary nonsense that ESPN slaps on and packages without peer review.


That being said- Wiggins in the PnR, Iso, and Post, the 3 areas of the game I see an individual effort being measured better than any other- he rates well. In the PnR ball handler he's allowing .78PPP , Westbrook and Lowry- 2 very good PnR defenders are allowing .71PPP. In the post Wiggins is allowing .54PPP - his length, strength and athleticism allow him to really both opps down low- rated one of the best in NBA. In isolation he's allowing .74PPP, less than Aminu and Antetokoumpo- both premier, long armed defenders with a track record of being very good in space.

I don't think the Wolves move Wiggins b/c of the reasons you mentioned- age being a big one. But CJ does present them with the one thing they clearly don't have- someone who can knock down shots all over the court (except inside- which they have in spades). In that way, it starts to make a bit of sense. I think it would take CJ and... some to even get Minnesota to answer the phone, but it's one I think could be beneficial to both in the long run.

 

except he can be stopped... funnel him to the rim. I'll give you a glimpse of what I'm looking at now with his numbers:
this is a look at players who have at least 50 FGAs from 10-14' and 100 FGAs from 15-19'- taking a look at his midrange numbers, CJ is CLEARLY a phenomenal midrange shooter- I'm going back and researching who his contemporaries are for comparisons sake... but aside from that... look at how bad he is inside 5 feet. The drop off is absolutely incredible... 44%? League average is just under 60%.... let that sink in for a bit. Being able to hit the 3 as a team is great, but one thing that has really bothered Portland since Roy left is this- they haven't had someone who could get to the rim off the bounce and finish efficiently.

CJ_midrange_qualified31Jan16 by Dan Marang posted Jan 31, 2016 at 5:16 PM

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE CJ. I'm not actively campaigning to trade him. People tend to take me asking questions as me out here with a sign saying TRADE CJ!?!!? In order for me to be objective I have to critically analyze EVERYTHING. That means I can't sit here and say... oh boy gee wiz?!! OMG CJ IS BEST?! CJ 4 PREZ!!!! I have to take a look at the whole picture and analyze the whole picture, and the whole picture paints CJ as one of the worst finishers in the league coupled with an innate ability to not draw fouls/free throws. So I stand here pretty much like this...


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