As a slow start for CJ McCollum to the season turned into a slow middle of the season turned into a slow end of the season, I was ready to break out the famed “bust” label and affix it directly to CJ’s forehead. The 10th overall pick should have shown more, said I, even if the Trailblazers were top-to-bottom stacked and there was only room for two chuckers on the team.
To his credit, CJ showed some serious flashes of promise at the very end of last season, averting certain bustitude. As his team collapsed around him, he gained more and more poise, before bravely scoring 33 in the final game of the series against the Grizzles.
Now the Trailblazers’ collapse is complete. LaMarcus Aldridge is gone. Wes Matthews is Dead. Nicolas Batum is a deserter. Damian Lillard remains on the team, but also remains a shot-happy chucker. The current Portland squad is a combination of scrubs from last year’s team and scrubs scraped from the grimy underside of other rosters.
Which means, as many commentators wisely predicted, that CJ gets to shoot as many times as he wants this year and no one will care. This is supposedly a lost season for his team, so why not show off what he can do? Him and Damian = the new Ellis and Curry? Believe it.