Before the trade deadline of the season, the Portland Trail Blazers eventually sent the team's second-in-command, McCollum, to the New Orleans Pelicans, earning Hart, Alexander Walker, Satoransky, Silva and a protected first-round pick. As a strong team that has been galloping on the playoff stage for many years, the Blazers have indeed suffered a lot of blows this season. As early as the beginning of the season, the star of the family maintained a downturn, not only failed to show his momentum of Mr. Key, but even became the leader of the crotch team.
However, as the regular season showdowns deepened, Lillard unfortunately suffered an abdominal injury and had to undergo surgery to miss the team's next games for a long time. But in this situation, the Blazers still made a crazy move, sending mcCollum, the team's second-in-command, away, to rearrange the team's lineup. In fact, during Lillard's previous slump and subsequent injuries, McCollum played the role of stadium commander in Portland, leading the team to many victories, so that he can maintain a record of 25 wins and 34 losses, ranking 10th in the West.
There is no doubt that McCollum is a very competent team leader and has the ability to lead the team to win. But after being sent to the New Orleans Pelicans, his identity changed dramatically! As we all know, the Pelicans have not performed well in the past two years, zion has not been able to return to the court so far this season, and Ingram plays a big role in the team. The Pelicans were able to send hart and the others to bring in McCollum, with the simple purpose of finding a reliable helper for Ingram and trying to impact the playoffs in the final stages. However, what everyone does not expect is that McCollum's performance in recent times has exceeded the expected effect.
So far, McCollum has played in five games for the Pelicans, averaging 28.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists in a 36.6-minute period. Perhaps, Ingram did not want to believe that McCollum would steal the applause that belonged to him and become the team's deserved leader. Yes, McCollum is more aggressive on the offensive end than Ingram, giving the latter more time and energy to spend on the offense of the tandem team as a whole. However, McCollum's arrival will also bring some big tests to the Pelicans: increased offensive aggressiveness, but there has been a significant decline on the defensive end!
Without the likes of Hart and Walker, the Pelicans' defense at this stage is simply full of holes. Of course, this is something that pelican management had considered before they got McCollum. Perhaps they also want to show absolute offensive aggression like the original Nets, thus covering up the shortcomings of the defensive end. The Pelicans, who are still on the edge of the playoffs, have a simple goal this season, just to make the playoffs. If McCollum can lead the team back to the playoffs, it will already be a huge success and prove the correctness of the deal. But if the final result does not achieve the desired effect, McCollum may be beaten back to its original form and re-play his role as the second in command of the team.