In the summer of 2015, the dramatic changes that took place within the Blazers are expected to be remembered by Lillard for the rest of his life. Four of the team's five starters chose to leave the team, with Aldridge going to the Spurs, Batum going to the Hornets, Matthews going to the Mavericks and Lowe going to the Knicks.
So there's that famous meme, Lillard: Then I'll die. The Blazers, whose roster changed drastically at the time, weren't much affected, reaching the Western Conference semifinals next season.
CJ McCollum went from a small substitute averaging just 6.8 points per game to the Blazers' second-in-command, and the backcourt double gun was officially formed. In the 15-16 season, CJ averaged 20.5 points per game to get the fastest improving player, becoming Lillard's best helper.
And Lillard, who is recuperating, probably never dreamed that he would also experience a "rebellion" plot, this time leaving Powell, Covington and CJ McCollum.
The previous trade to Powell and Covington can be said to be a white gift, and then fans speculate that the next to go will be CJ, and sure enough, CJ was sent to the Pelicans by the Blazers last night, the specific transaction is as follows:
The Pelicans sent Out Josh Hart, Alexander Walker, Satoransky, Didi Lozada, 2022 protected first-round picks and two future second-round picks for CJ McCollum, Larry Nance and Tony Snell.
Yes, the Blazers didn't just send away the second-in-command CJ, they also sent away Nance Jr. and Snell, who played well, in order to take over the Pelicans' guard army, making the team's lineup even stranger at this stage.
There's no doubt it's tough to send CJ away, but it's also something the Trail Blazers have to do if they want to rebuild. Nine years ago, after the Blazers selected CJ, the latter quickly grew into one of the two guns, and they led the team to the Western Conference Finals, and the memory is good.
But that's about it, and the twin guns come with natural defensive holes that keep the Trail Blazers' defense one of the worst in the league. A team that defends the bottom has no hope of winning the championship, so the double gun must be dismantled, even if the double gun firepower has always been the top in the league.
Since the third season of "regularization", CJ has not averaged 20 points per game. He is averaging 20.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this season.
In the past seven seasons, CJ has played at least 30 games per season and has scored 20+ players, and there are only 5 such players in the league, the other 4 are James, Davis, Harden and DeRozan.
Lillard and CJ had six seasons of attendance of over 60 percent while averaging 20+ points per game, a record that ranked second among all duos in NBA history. Elgin Baylor and West in the first 60s.
And for the past five seasons, CJ McCollum has also been the league's king of total jump shots. With a total of 2155 jump shots, he ranked first in the league with an effective shooting percentage of 54.4%, and the second place was Curry (2123).
This may be something that many people have not expected, because of Lillard's existence, CJ is always the one who is ignored. His scoring ability has long been at the top of the league, but the Trail Blazers have really come to an end.
Many people say that once CJ leaves, Lillard will definitely not stay, in fact, on the contrary, the Blazers dismantled half of the team, just to keep Lillard. Not rebuilding, but reshuffling, giving Lillard a whole new environment.
The Blazers received a $21 million deal exception through the CJ deal, and this offseason, the Blazers may have $60 million in salary space, as well as multiple draft picks from the Pelicans and Clippers trades.
"We can choose courage or ease, but we can't have both."
So pack up, say goodbye to the past, and continue to the next stop.