Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum weren't exactly surprised when they were finally split up. Both have clarified as much in wake of the latter's move to the New Orleans Pelicans, with McCollum even acknowledging he had a say in his ultimate destination at the trade deadline.

Just because they'd discussed the likelihood of McCollum playing elsewhere and he's happy to be in New Orleans, though, doesn't mean it's been easy for Lillard to watch his longtime teammate and lifelong friend suit up with the Pelicans.

In a forthcoming appearance on The Draymond Green Show, Lillard opened up about the trade, hardly mincing words at the sense of disbelief he feels as McCollum gets buckets in New Orleans.

“You get to a point where maybe something has run it's course. You gotta re-route yourself and try to figure out what's the best thing, what's the best angle to take at this point,” Lillard said. “That s*** was tough to deal with, bruh, I ain't gonna lie. You know when you know something could be coming and you know that it's a possibility, but when it happens it's different, like damn! And I've kinda been stuck in that space the whole time. Like I've been watching every game in New Orleans like damn, he really ain't coming back. It's over. That's kind of where I've been at. I still kinda haven't even really moved past it because I ain't have to play. The end of an era, bruh.”

Lillard and McCollum played eight full seasons together in Rip City, leading the Blazers to the playoffs each year—the longest active streak in basketball. Despite a sorely disappointing first-round loss to the short-handed Denver Nuggets last spring, the plan was for Portland to push for contention with its incumbent core for at least one more season under rookie coach Chauncey Billups.

Instead, the Blazers got off to a rough start in 2021-22, beset by Lillard's career-worst individual struggles as he dealt with nagging pain in his midsection due to abdominal tendinopathy. By the time McCollum suffered a collapsed lung in early December, joining Lillard on the sideline, the writing was on the wall for not just Portland's fate this season, but the state of its roster leading up to the trade deadline.

The Blazers dealt McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. to the Pelicans on February 8th in exchange for a package headlined by Josh Hart and a protected 2022 lottery pick. They've been basketball's hottest team since trading McCollum, Nance, Norman Powell and Robert Covington, heading into the All-Star break on a 4-0 surge despite Lillard's continued absence.

McCollum, meanwhile, has thrived for the Pelicans, averaging 28.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game with a stellar 59.2 effective field goal percenage. That personal success hasn't translated to winning basketball, though, as New Orleans has gone 1-4 with McCollum in tow, falling behind Portland for the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament.