Would the world be a better place of the Portland Trail Blazers traded CJ McCollum to the Houston Rockets for James Harden?

The Portland Trail Blazers are reportedly on Harden's list of preferred destinations if he were to be traded. Pairing Damian Lillard and James Harden together could create one of the most lethal backcourts the game has ever seen, but would it be worth it considering what the Blazers would have to give up in a deal? You know, likely CJ McCollum.

On the daily Locked On Blazers Podcast, host Mike Richman explains why he doesn't believe the Trail Blazers should go all in and trade CJ McCollum for James Harden right now.

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Mike Richman: The argument for trading for James Harden was that you get this massive talent upgrade and of course you have to sacrifice some chemistry in order to do that. However, if the production level is about even then what you would sacrifice in chemistry and familiarity and other assets you might have to give up to get James Harden becomes a lot less worth it.

At this stage, I am not inclined to sell high on CJ McCollum. I'm recording this right after he hit a game-sealing jumper to beat the Toronto Raptors in one of the Blazers' best wins of the season. It's in the running with one other game so it's certainly in the top two, it's either this or the Lakers game depending on your opinion.

After seeing CJ drive down in transition, spin, through the legs, and pull up from 15 for just an insanely difficult shot with the clock ticking under 10 seconds to put the Blazers up one. Maybe I'm a prisoner of the moment but he's just playing at a level that he's never been and he has been arguably the Blazers' best player through 10 games. I am not inclined to a sell-high, I'm more inclined to bank on the Blazers who have built this wonderful chemistry built this duo and if the production is relatively equal to what James Harden is at… and really is right there if you look at the numbers across the board. Harden is not shooting as well but he's putting up more assists and CJ is edging him in scoring as it is right now. So if the production is about the same, I say ride with CJ because why mess up a good thing?