Philadelphia 76ers Should Consider Trail Blazer C.J. McCollum

With time running out on trades, and the Philadelphia 76ers sitting on assets, is it time to call the Portland Trail Blazers about C.J. McCollum?

The Philadelphia 76ers are a team with a roster stocked with young talented “just wait until they develop!” players, and the only missing ingredient right now is time. But we’ve seen already that a single player can make a difference to this team, entirely renovating the mood and fortunes if they get the right player. Right now, a shooter would seem to fit well in the current Sixers lineup.  C.J. McCollum is such a shooter, and has been rumored in trade talks for months.  However, none have linked McCollum to the Sixers, which I am correcting now.  It’s a trade move that makes some sense at first blush, but there are always roadblocks to tackle before a trade happens.

The three essential elements of resistance to this deal are:  Would the Trail Blazers want to move McCollum?  Do the Sixers have the right pieces to make the deal work for both teams?  Does a deal like this make sense?Right now, the Portland Trail Blazers are hovering just below a playoff team, and would get a lottery pick as a result.   They appear to be taking the upcoming NBA draft very seriously.  But what if they had two first round picks?  That doubles their chances of scoring on a starter going forward, and would give them that much more incentive heading into the draft?  Perhaps. The Trail Blazers have a pair of shooters – C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, and their chemistry makes the pair of Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel appear to be ideal. The team is 100% behind Damian Lillard, so the logic is that C.J. McCollum could be had for the right price. But what is is value?

Well to determine what the ask is, we need to understand what the team needs are. To do so, I tapped into our Portland Trail Blazers cousin with FanSided the RIP City Project’s own Steven Dewald. He wrote up a nice piece regarding Portland’s pre-deadline needs and spells out what the team is looking for rather concisely.  According to Dewalt, the Trail Blazers need a rim protector, a reserve point guard, a stretch four and a deep threat.  Of those needs, the Sixers have three options to deal:   Richaun Holmes (rim), T.J. McConnell (reserve PG) and Isaiah Canaan (deep threat).

So back to the litmus test.

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Would the Trail Blazers want to move McCollum?  According to Dewald, yes they want to realign the roster to minimize the inefficiencies.  McCollum does not generate any defense while on the court.  And with a wise trade, the team would not take a hit on his perimeter shooting.

Do the Sixers have the right pieces to make the deal work for both teams?  Yes, they do.  If the Trail Blazers want young prospects with good upside, the Sixers have several to choose from.  If the Trail Blazers want draft picks, the Sixers are sitting on four in the first round.   The Sixers could package a player and a late first round draft pick for the Trail Blazer shooting guard.  If the deal is constructed wisely, they can bolster their defense, bolster their perimeter shooting, or even both.

Does a deal like this make sense?   I think it could. Philadelphia is leading the NBA in blocks, while Portland is 24th in the NBA.  Acquiring the talents of Richaun Holmes would boost Portland to 16th in the league.  While Portland is a more accurate perimeter shooting team, their average is 35.6%. Isaiah Canaan is shooting 37.2% accuracy from the perimeter. And if Portland want a reserve point guard, there is none better in the league right now than T.J. McConnell. And as far as draft picks? Both Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey and owner Paul Allen love the draft.

McCollum and Lillard do not play defense well on the court together. With the Portland Trail Blazers so very close to the playoffs now, the right assembly of defense with a draft pick could accelerate them in the right way. McCollum is a huge threat on offense, and one which would be quite welcome on a Philadelphia 76ers roster, his talents are mired in the duplicity of Portland’s other players. He could emerge as that scoring wing the Sixers desperately need, and in return the Trail Blazers could get young talent and a draft pick to build both today and tomorrow.

Will the team’s discuss this potential trade?  With Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie, this has likely already happened.  It makes sense for the Sixers to move a big now (Holmes) as the roster projects to pick up both Joel Embiid and Dario Saric next season.  Should the 76ers pull a trigger now?

C.J. McCollum appears to be that type of player.  While McCollum does not bring the “two-way” component to the Sixers yet, his offense would certainly be a precious gemstone in the setting of Mike D’Antoni‘s new offensive schemes.  Another excellent variable is the fact that C.J.McCollum is also a journalist in his own right.  That level of expertise is almost another asset of the young man – a good communicator in a world with bad communications.

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McCollum is familar with the east coast, as he played basketball at Lehigh University in Bethlehem Pennsylvania after graduating from Glen Oak High School in Canton Ohio. He has an older brother, Errick McCollum, currently playing for Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League.  The Sixers need a shooter.   The Trail Blazers need help.  And C.J. McCollum needs a new team.

Do the deal.