Portland Trail Blazers: With CJ out long term its time to experiment
One-half of the Portland Trail Blazers dynamic-duo backcourt, CJ McCollum, is out of action long-term with a punctured lung. It’s time for the Blazers to get creative with their personnel.
Thursday, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that star guard CJ McCollum is out indefinitely with a punctured right lung. Losing his 20.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game is a big blow. It’s even worse considering Portland has guards Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons sidelined with minor injuries. But it’s also a chance to lay the foundation for better on-court results.
An overdue move
McCollum is the subject of many trade rumors. The idea behind dealing him is for the Blazers to beef up a thin front line. CJ’s injury is a good chance to see how the team would look without him in the lineup permanently.
Since he arrived last March, Norman Powell has been a big asset. In 49 games with the Blazers, he’s averaged 17.2 points per game. That’s pretty good considering Powell is playing out of position as a 6-3 forward.
Moving Stormin Norman to shooting guard, lets him use his biggest asset, three-point shooting, more often and from better angles. Additionally, Powell is a better defender than CJ, which will help the league’s worst defense tighten up.
Lillard and Simons will be back. Their respective injuries probably mean they won’t return in the next week, but soon. It will be interesting to see what kind of chemistry Powell has with Rip City’s top two point guards sharing the backcourt for 35 or so minutes per game.
Trickle Down
With Powell moving to guard, his small forward spot goes to Robert Covington. When he’s on, RoCo is a dynamic 3-and-D player. Unfortunately, Portland uses him too much inside. A situation that negatively affects his game in two ways. First, he’s a much better wing defender than an inside one. Second, battling with the big men wears him down.
Although he’s not the ideal replacement at power forward, Larry Nance Jr. enters the starting lineup as the Portland Trail Blazers power forward. His job is to clean the glass and start Portland’s break. Over his career, Nance averages almost ten boards per 36 minutes. There are other options on the trade market, but he makes an excellent placeholder until the Blazers find someone else.
Bottom Line
The net result of this lineup shuffle is the Portland Trail Blazers will score fewer points. There aren’t many players in the league that can match McCollum’s offensive production. In turn, the Blazers will also be a much better defensive team. That meshes well with new head coach Chauncey Billups‘ philosophy.
Without McCollum, Portland needs someone else who can score, preferably a good-sized forward. In the meantime, this injury sets a blueprint for the team’s future.
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How do you think the Portland Trail Blazers will do without CJ McCollum? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.