NBA Trades: 3 CJ McCollum trades to shake things up in Portland
By Jack Simone
NBA Trades: 3 CJ McCollum trades to give Portland a boost – Dallas Mavericks
Mavericks receive: CJ McCollum
Trail Blazers receive: Tim Hardaway Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, 2022 First-Round Pick
This is another trade where the Portland Trail Blazers would be looking to add depth instead of a second star alongside Damian Lillard.
In this scenario, Dallas would be getting a third star to put next to Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. CJ McCollum would give them a great scoring punch, as well as a secondary ball-handler.
This is something Dallas has supposedly wanted for a long time now – someone to lighten the ball-handling load off of Doncic for periods of the game.
McCollum has proven to be a quality second option in Portland, so there’s no reason he couldn’t continue to find that same success with the Mavericks.
For the Trail Blazers, they’d be getting three quality rotational pieces, just as they did in the Knicks trade. McCollum for depth is the common factor in these deals.
While Tim Hardaway Jr. hasn’t had the best season up to this point, he still can give a team 15-20 a night in his sleep. His scoring would help replace McCollum’s.
Then, Portland would be getting two solid two-way players to add to their bench. Dorian Finney-Smith is a versatile defender and a respectable three-point shooter, and the same can be said. about Maxi Kleber.