There's no shortage of firepower in the Western Conference, and it's no secret that the Portland Trail Blazers, despite having good talent on their roster, are still playing catch-up to half of the conference.
The Blazers have been to the playoffs in each of the last four years, but couldn't get past the second round in any of those seasons. In fact, when they reached the conference semifinals in 2016, it was pretty obvious that it was only due to their first round opponents, L.A. Clippers, getting depleted with injuries.
With such shortcomings, the idea of splitting up the team's premier players, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, is getting more and more attention. While both are reliable, high-scoring guards that can get points from anywhere on the floor, it's never good to have a starting backcourt that's made up of two 6-foot-3 players. The speed advantage can get you going, but ultimately, the inevitable mismatches will be too much.
As you might have assumed, it's McCollum that's going to be shipped if the Blazers decide to shake things up. Lillard is the franchise, and the team management has been heavily invested in what he can bring to the table.
Marc Stein of the New York Times got some scoop on the topic.
“This is the year Portland will break up the potent backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum: The Blazers don’t want to trade either one, especially when they awoke Wednesday ranked seventh in the league in defensive efficiency despite the annual external skepticism about the pairing’s capabilities at that end of the floor. But the easiest path to balancing the roster is by parting with one of their two guards — most likely McCollum — for a package headlined by a frontcourt player on their level. No one’s suggesting it’ll happen before the Feb. 8 trade deadline, but Portland’s latest so-so season threatens to be the impetus that finally pushes the longtime Blazers owner Paul Allen in a new direction.”
The situation is very reminiscent of what the Golden State Warriors had in 2012, wherein the guard combination of Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis weren't clicking, so the Warriors dealt the latter for big man Andrew Bogut. It was panned by the fans, but it turned out to be a key move in the team's eventual resurgence.
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