The comments are frequent about his lackluster SPL performance but what you're forgetting is that he missed nearly an entire year, clearly his rhythm wasn't there. Look at Rose for example, a year off and nowhere near where he used to be. He, IMO, is the SGOTF and definitely not some throw-in in a trade. And you can probably expect him to look rusty when he comes back. Looking at his stats at Lehigh -- his advanced numbers were at least on par with Lillard's numbers at Weber State. Career numbers: McCollum: 29.1 PER | 56 TS% | 20.7 WS | 95.5 DRtg (21.3 PPG | 6.3 RPG | 2.7 APG) -- primarily played SG Lillard: 29.3 PER | 60.6 TS% | 17.6 WS | 102.9 DRtg (18.6 PPG | 4.3 RPG | 3.5 APG) -- primarily played PG He has the skillset and bbiq to be that third scorer next to Dame and LMA.
Fez, I do not think he is a throw in either. While I do not see him playing the point and he will be undersized for the two, his outside shooting in this offense will be fun to watch.
You missed the point. Some are down on him because of how he looked in Vegas without factoring in his long layoff due to injury. This is more about how he compared to Lillard in college and the type of prospect he really is.
The other thing to note was in summer league, he really didn't have much help. With this squad, CJ won't have to be ISO Roy and force the issue. He can organically score and distribute with this team. I'm actually really excited to see what he can do with this ball club!
I think because of his size and questionable PG skills, he is, and perhaps always will be, best suited to a 6th man, instant offense role off the bench - a classic Vinnie Johnson microwave role. That's not a bad thing, and the role Mo Williams is playing now. I envision C.J. eventually developing into a rich man's Mo Williams. Again, nothing wrong with that. Johnson won two rings with Detroit and was a valuable part of those teams. I just don't see C.J. becoming another Lillard, who I think is an all-star level talent. I see C.J. as a future 6th man of the year level talent. BNM
Fez, I think his point was well taken. He may be a bust or he may be an all-star. And the college stats are pretty much meaningless. We will know when and if he ever plays. Now, if you really want an opinion, I did watch some of his college games and I wasn't as impressed as I was with Dame. He doesn't seem to have the "it" factor most NBA players had in college.
Ya SL was a bit messed up because we had him playing PG. He ain't a PG the whole time. I just hope his ability to the get to the rim will transfer into the NBA. We need another guy that can drive/finish/get FTs
I liked what I saw in summer league as well. Especially when you consider before SL he hadn't played a game in almost a year.
With the Blazers luck, and his reoccurring injury, I am not excited about this guy. A foot that continues to stay weak, re-break, will not bode well for our teams future.
I think we might want to wait until he plays in a few games before we decide if he's underrated or overrated.
If CJ can’t play the point how is he going to sub for Damian? We’ve seen the offense the last few years when there is no PG coming in off the bench, not pretty. It may be more effective to play a lesser talent but one with a legit point skillset such as Watson when Damian needs a break. If so and if CJ deserves minutes than SG would be the only position he plays. We could still play him with Matthews as Wes can slide to SF. I’m not terribly worried about CJ defensively at SG as there aren’t any in the league he would have a terrible matchup with. The majority of teams have undersized 2 guards these days. I’m real excited to see CJ on the court but I won’t be surprised if he is a 3rd string garbage time player this season. There will be opportunities at some point though, and Mo is on a one year contract so CJ could have a much larger role next year.
I don't think he is being underrated, I just think he is kind of forgetten at the moment because no one has seen him play besides summer league, and the team is doing really well right now. Out of sight out of mind and we arn't desperate for any help. He will get his time to shine soon enough.
And I'm hoping this is all for the better. Give him the most amount of time to heal, and relieve any pressure of us significantly requiring his help. That said, I think he has the skillset to be a significant asset to this team.
This. I suppose the only people who can begin to speak on this are his coaches at Lehigh and the coaches who were roaming the practice facility this summer. No one else has gotten an extended look like they have. I for one think Summer League was a really bad mix of players and a situation where the other teams were blanket covering him (many of whom were playing with their careers on the line trying to show scouts they can D-up against the lotto kid).
