CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers.
The Portland Trail Blazers have one of the best backcourts in the NBA. However, over the last two years, this tandem’s playing time together isn’t what it once was in previous seasons. This year marks the second year in a row that CJ McCollum has missed significant time with injury. Is this because McCollum is injury prone or the victim of freak injuries?
Last season McCollum missed a quarter of the year due to a small hairline fracture of the lateral cuneiform in his left foot, along with a mid-foot sprain. Prior to the injury, he was on his way to a possible All-Star selection. This year McCollum is currently out of commission due to pneumothorax or, in simpler terms, a collapsed lung!
Both injuries occurred in 2021, the foot in January and the lung in December. What a way to bookend the year. Recently, the team announced that McCollum’s lung is fully healed, thus clearing him for shooting and non-contact drills. However, there is still no timeline for his return to games.
Going back to McCollum’s college days. In his senior year at Lehigh, he missed time with a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot. That makes two severe foot injuries to the same foot. Due to the severity of these injuries, there is the possibility of reinjuring or leading to other possible injuries.
McCollum is playing in his age-30 season this year. By the start of next season, he’ll be 31. As of now, he still has two more years left on his most recent contract extension. It pains me to say this, but maybe it’s time for the Portland Trail Blazers to look into trading McCollum. Obviously, this is a question the team’s new GM will have to make.
Damian Lillard and McCollum have played 515 games together, out of a possible 738 games. During this time, Lillard has missed 56 games in his career. Compared to the 128 games for McCollum. Dame only has two seasons where he didn’t play over 70 games. Compared to the three seasons for McCollum, it’s only one if you remove his first two years.
Unfortunately, over the last two years, the duo combined to miss 78 games (47 for McCollum and 31 for Lillard). Also, both players are into their early 30’s. Speaking from personal experience, this is when your body starts to change, and you can no longer do the things you used to do when you were younger. The Portland Trail Blazers have already gone through this once before, with a different player.
A good comparison is Wesley Matthews. He played every game in his first two seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, then suffered a hip injury during the 2012-2013 season. The following year he returned and played in every game. Unfortunately, during his last season with the Portland Trail Blazers, Matthews suffered an Achilles injury. Since then, he’s only played over 70 games in an NBA season twice.
The Portland Trail Blazers have been here before in regards to their star players dealing with chronic injuries. Looking at you, Brandon Roy and Greg Oden.
This very well may be the beginning of the end for McCollum. He’s already had a second significant foot injury, and now McCollum sustained a freak lung injury. It’s entirely possible that there are more injuries to come.
2021-22 will mark the second consecutive season where CJ plays less than 70 regular-season games. Until last year, he had five straight seasons of surpassing that number and was considered a durable player. It’s not the bumps and nicks sustained during a given year; it’s the injuries that cause the player to miss several games.
So, is his body starting to break down on him? Everyone’s body is different, breaking down at different times and rates. How many times have we seen athletes be healthy most of their careers? Then they get one big injury, and the nagging injuries pile up in the following years.
Here’s the “fork in the road” in this situation. On the one hand, if McCollum’s body is breaking down and he can’t be counted on to play about 70 games, then the Portland Trail Blazers have decisions to make. They need to either A) trade him away and for a good return or B) move him to the bench to better limit the wear and tear on his body. Subsequently, the latter scenario leads to a conclave of different lineup scenarios.
For example, it looks like Anfernee Simons is coming into his own. Is he still the backup point guard, or does that now go to McCollum? And does the other one move into the backup shooting guard role? Can Simons be a reliable backcourt partner to Dame?
On the other hand, McCollum suffered two freak injuries, and this article is just a waste of time. I’ll let you decide, but for me, I’m leaning a little more to the side of McCollum becoming injury-prone.
What are your thoughts on CJ McCollum? Let us know in the comments section below.