{"id":2697,"date":"2018-02-08T15:19:35","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T23:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pdxpeople.com\/?p=2697"},"modified":"2018-02-08T15:19:35","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T23:19:35","slug":"c-j-mccollum-portland-trailblazers-shooting-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pdxpeople.com\/?p=2697","title":{"rendered":"C.J. McCollum \u2013 Portland Trailblazers Shooting Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"C.J.<\/a><\/p>\n

By PDX People<\/p>\n

PORTLAND, Ore. \u2013 There\u2019s no doubt that people from Portland Oregon love their Trailblazers including shooting guard C.J. McCollum.<\/p>\n

Born in Canton Ohio in 1991, Christian James McCollum, or C.J. as he\u2019s known, was a standout player at Glen Oak High School before going to college at Lehigh University.<\/p>\n

Once his college career ended he was drafted by the Trailblazers in the 2013 draft and instantly made an impact on the team when he averaged 21 points and about four rebounds in each game that he played.<\/p>\n

Trailblazer Career<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
\n

2014\u201315 season<\/h4>\n

On October 27, 2014, the Trail Blazers exercised their third-year team option on McCollum’s rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2015\u201316 season. On April 29, 2015, McCollum scored then career-high 33 points in Portland’s Game 5, first-round playoff loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

On September 30, 2015, the Trail Blazers exercised their fourth-year team option on McCollum’s rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2016\u201317 season.\u00a0With the departures of\u00a0Nicolas Batum<\/a>,\u00a0LaMarcus Aldridge<\/a>,\u00a0Wesley Matthews<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Robin Lopez<\/a>, McCollum was elevated to the starting shooting guard spot for the 2015\u201316 season, teaming up with point guard\u00a0Damian Lillard<\/a>. On October 28, 2015, McCollum scored a career-high 37 points (including 22 points in the first quarter) in the Trail Blazers’ 112\u201394 season opening win over the New Orleans Pelicans. With an injury to Lillard in late December, McCollum moved over to the point. On December 27, he recorded 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in a 98\u201394 win over the Sacramento Kings. No Blazers player in the previous 29 years had put up numbers similar to McCollum’s near triple-double.\u00a0Clyde Drexler<\/a>\u00a0had at least 34 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists on five occasions. McCollum returned to the starting shooting guard on January 4 following the return of Lillard from injury. On February 12, he was named as a participant in the 2016\u00a0Three-Point Contest<\/a>.[22]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0On April 5, he recorded his eighth 30-point game of the season in a 115\u2013107 win over the Sacramento Kings. McCollum finished the regular season with an average of 20.8 points per game, while\u00a0Damian Lillard<\/a>\u00a0averaged 25.1 \u2013 making them the first backcourt in Blazers’ history to average 20 or more points apiece. McCollum subsequently earned\u00a0NBA Most Improved Player<\/a>\u00a0honors for the 2015\u201316 season.<\/p>\n

McCollum helped the Trail Blazers defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 4\u20132 in the first round of the playoffs, but in their second-round match-up with the Golden State Warriors, the Trail Blazers were defeated, going down 4\u20131. In Game 5 of their series with the Warriors, McCollum had his third 27-point game of the playoffs in a 125\u2013121 loss that ended their postseason run.<\/p>\n

2016\u201317 season<\/strong><\/h4>\n

On July 27, 2016, McCollum signed a four-year contract extension with the Trail Blazers.\u00a0In the Trail Blazers’ season opener on October 25, McCollum scored 25 points in a 113\u2013104 win over the\u00a0Utah Jazz<\/a>.\u00a0Four days later, he recorded 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and a career-high three blocks in a 115\u2013113 overtime win over the\u00a0Denver Nuggets<\/a>. On November 6, he tied his career high with 37 points in a 100\u201394 win over the\u00a0Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>. On November 20, he scored 33 points and hit a career-high tying six three-pointers in a 129\u2013109 win over the\u00a0Brooklyn Nets<\/a>.\u00a0On December 10, he made a career-high seven three-pointers and had 34 points in a 118\u2013111 loss to the\u00a0Indiana Pacers<\/a>.\u00a0On January 1, 2017, McCollum set a new career high with 43 points in a 95\u201389 win over the\u00a0Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>. On January 13, he scored 26 points in a 115\u2013109 loss to the\u00a0Orlando Magic<\/a>, extending his streak to eight consecutive games with at least 25 points\u2014the third-longest in Portland history. Only\u00a0Geoff Petrie<\/a>\u00a0(11 games) and\u00a0Clyde Drexler<\/a>\u00a0(9) have longer streak among Blazer players.\u00a0On February 7, he scored 32 points, the last two on a runner from the top of the lane with 0.9 seconds left to give the Trail Blazers a 114\u2013113 win over the\u00a0Dallas Mavericks<\/a>.[35]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0On March 28, he had a 39-point effort in a 122\u2013113 win over Denver.\u00a0The Trail Blazers finished the regular season with a 41\u201341 record and entered the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.<\/p>\n

On April 16, 2017, McCollum scored a playoff career-best 41 points in a 121\u2013109 loss to the\u00a0Golden State Warriors<\/a>\u00a0in Game 1 of their first-round series, becoming just the eighth Blazers player with a 40-point playoff performance.<\/p>\n

2017\u201318 season<\/h4>\n

Due to a one-game suspension for leaving the bench area during a preseason game, McCollum missed the Trail Blazers’ season opener. In his season debut on October 20, 2017, McCollum scored 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting to lead the Blazers past the\u00a0Indiana Pacers<\/a>\u00a0114\u201396.\u00a0On November 7, 2017, McCollum led Portland with 36 points in a 98\u201397 loss to the\u00a0Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>. On November 25, 2017, McCollum scored 26 points, including seven straight during a 10\u20130 game-closing run, to help the Trail Blazers overcome a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the\u00a0Washington Wizards<\/a>\u00a0108\u2013105.\u00a0On January 1, 2018, he scored 25 of his 32 points after halftime, including the tiebreaking basket with 56.5 seconds remaining in overtime, to help the Trail Blazers beat the\u00a0Chicago Bulls<\/a>\u00a0124\u2013120.\u00a0On January 31, 2018, McCollum scored a franchise-record 28 points in the first quarter and finished with a career-high 50 through three periods before heading to the bench, as the Trail Blazers defeated the Bulls 124\u2013108.\u00a0He joined\u00a0Damian Lillard<\/a>,\u00a0Damon Stoudamire<\/a>,\u00a0Brandon Roy<\/a>,\u00a0Andre Miller<\/a>,\u00a0Clyde Drexler<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Geoff Petrie<\/a>\u00a0as Trail Blazers players to score 50 points or more.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Committed to Portland <\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

As he\u2019s grown as a player over the last 5 years so has his love of Portland Oregon and the PDX People who show up for Trailblazer games<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the Trailblazes are not considering trading McCollum at this time and this was music to his ears.<\/p>\n

“I like the team that we have,” McCollum said. “Obviously it’s (the team’s) decision to try to decide how we can get better from here, whether that be through trade, free agency, draft … or internal development. But I like the team that we have. I think we’re growing, continuing to find ways to get better and improving.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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