“End of an era” Damian Lillard reveals he watches all New Orleans Pelicans games after CJ McCollum trade
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CJ McCollum traded
The Portland Trail Blazers have had a tough first half of a season finishing with only 25 wins and 34 losses. The team went from being a major three-point shooting threat in the league to a team clinching the play-in tournament seeds. For the first part of this season, the roster consisted of a core with tons of experience on the court but it failed to translate into wins like it once used to.
Damian Lillard had entered an awkward slumped initially which hurt the team’s chances of winning. But the overall system was not enough to help them get past teams that are just simply better at this point. It seems like the Blazers front office had realized what needed to be done and shocked the NBA world during the trade deadline.
Portland Trail Blazers trade CJ McCollum for an all-new look ahead of the second half of the regular season
Portland had decided to make a move that would have been extremely hard to make especially since the team had achieved a lot with these particular players. CJ McCollum was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans involving seven other players. The Blazers received Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Didi Louzada, 2022 protected first-round pick, and two future second-round picks.
They separated the iconic three-point shooting duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum as they had been together ever since 2013. The 30-year old veteran shooting guard is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game this season. He initially missed 17 games due to a collapsed lung but he has now been playing at a very efficient level rendering himself a perfect scoring option for the Pelicans.
Damian Lillard opens up about CJ McCollum’s trade and future plans with the Blazers excluding him
Damian Lillard had a heartfelt sit-down conversation with Draymond Green on The Volume podcast where he revealed that CJ and himself knew was a possibility of the trade taking place. The pair had consistently made the playoffs ever since acquiring McCollum and have reached the Western Conference finals as well.
“I kind 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 you know, it’s over. I still kind of haven’t really moved past it. Me and CJ sat next to each other on a plane for the first eight years. We was like sitting right next to each other.”
Despite the loss, Lillard is still optimistic to win a championship with his current team even with age being a factor. The point guard is about to turn 32-years old next month which shaves off another year from the days left to win a ring. Lillard claims that he trusts the moves being made and the roster is ready to work all in to get to the playoffs this season.
Also read: “That’s a failure” Chris Broussard demolishes LeBron James for being capable of being the GOAT
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Rakibul John Rodgers
(1258 Articles Published)