Between last year and this year CJ McCollum is averaging nearly 28 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists with 50%FG when Lillard is out. Our roster is not balanced at all and if we can get equal return from Lillard we should explore the possibility of trading him. McCollum is a more efficient scorer, a better ball handler and a better defender. He only needs to get to the three throw line more. I don't care how much Lillard loves the community (i only care about winning) and i don't care if he returns @GS and drops 50 on Curry, it is clear to me that the Dame/CJ duo is not sustainable on defense. If we could get the guarantee that Cousins would re-sign with us i would trade Lillard for him in a heartbeat. Imagine if teams double-team Cousins on the block with the super-efficient McCollum wide open on the perimeter... I named Cousins but the same could be said for other frontcourt guys of the same tier of Lillard.
I think IF one is traded it would be CJ and not Dame, and CJ is only increasing his trade value. However, with Neil at the helm I sorta doubt either is moved, but if Neil gets fired then I think we could see activity.
Last year you wanted to trade CJ for Boban and Kyle Anderson. I can only imagine the garbage you'd look to get for Lillard.
The only thing CJ might be as good at as Lillard is pure scoring. Lillard actually makes his teammates better, and is a much better playmaker and decision maker. He's a better defender too, the only difference without dame out there right now is we are able to hide CJ a lot more, so it creates the illusion that were better with him when in reality were just better because we don't have the redundancy in the backcourt. We'd be even better defensively with Dame instead of CJ. The solution here is simple; trade CJ.
A franchise player like Lillard is a rare guy to draft. No way we trade him for Cousins. Cousins can flip on a dime...and he'll whine if he's not the guy shooting the ball. For us this is not clever addition by subtraction unless you get a more talented but equally high character guy to take over the team. CJ is not a better defender than Dame. Not at all. I'd swap CJ for several players, I can't say that about Lillard. CJ for Paul George or Jimmy Butler or Kawhi Leonard or Klay Thompson.....hell yes...can't say that for Dame..my 2 cents....I'd only trade Dame for Kevin Durant or Lebron types and that ain't happenin' ....CJ for Paul George or Klay Thompson..that's more what I'd like to see
Btw, this thread title notes something important. Dame has missed 10 games in 5 yrs. Total. Let that sink in.
Dame has made the Blazers a global brand in a way that no other Blazer ever has....he's really put Portland on the map for folks who are not necessarily basketball fanatics like us...in other words...George Karl can fuck off
We should trade Lillard for CJ. A bold move that would make all of the trade Lillard and CJ people come together!
My prediction: We are going to stomp ass when Lillard returns (with the exception of maybe to GSW game). Remember last year when Dame was out? CJ took over, found his game and was killing it, just like now, and when Dame returned they BOTH were killing it together. I think the same will happen here. Only difference is this is earlier in the season, and taking our upcoming schedule into account, we have a chance to have a better record after the all star break than we did last year. With the Kings and Nuggets having way harder schedules ahead, we are really going to have to stink to not make at least the 7 seed. Hopefully on top of that we can trade for some defense and not get murdered too bad early in the playoffs.
The solution is simple.....keep both of them. I still don't buy the redundancy argument because players need rest and players get hurt. This way you always have one on the floor. If we trade one of them, the move will be more than likely a lateral move in the long run. I think building around both of them is the smarter route long term. Either way we are not winning the NBA championship this year.
Well well well...... WHAT do we have here gentleman. Somebody who just REFUSED to read the fine print when joining our little basketball forum. Let's take a poll on how The HCP should handle this little mess....... I'll leave it up to the you and your nerd brethren on what course of action should be taken.
And McCollum has never made it to an All-Star game ever since he was paired with Lillard. They're both cancers holding the other back.
CJ is somewhere between Harden and Reggie Jackson, both of whom had to get their own teams because they were crowded out by Westbrook.
