7. CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers
For all the gripes about how the Damian Lillard-CJ McCollum backcourt plays no defense, the Portland Trail Blazers were the NBA’s eighth-ranked defense last year. Both guards drastically improved their effort on that end, which is what made McCollum’s slight statistical dip easier to explain.
In his fifth NBA season, McCollum saw his averages drop from 23.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game on .480/.421/.912 shooting splits the year prior to 21.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game on .443/.397/.836 shooting in 2017-18.
Still, those are pretty damn good numbers, especially on the third-best team in the West. Rip City flamed out early in the playoffs, but McCollum more than did his part in that series, carrying the load for a struggling Lillard. Given his defensive progress and the fact that he’s still just 26 years old, “3J” could be heading for a career year in 2018-19.