8. C.J. McCollum
With the offseason departures of LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, Robin Lopez AND Arron Afflalo, the Portland Trail Blazers will have plenty of touches to go around in 2015-16. In fact, outside of cornerstone Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum might be the Blazers’ best offensive weapon now.
Last season, McCollum’s 6.8 points per game were underwhelming on the surface. But he also converted 39.6 percent from three-point range and in Rip City’s first round playoff series, he averaged an impressive 17 points per game — including a 33-point outing in Game 5 — while shooting 47.8 percent from deep.
Meyers Leonard was considered for this spot as well, since he and McCollum will now be regularly featured in the team’s lineup. But heading into his third season, McCollum will have more responsibility than he ever has, and if he can ride that momentum from last year’s playoff series, we could be looking at a crucial transitionary year from him.
Next: No. 7