FILE – CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers is announced before the game against the Detroit Pistons at Moda Center on November 30, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. Steph Chambers/Getty Images/AFP
The Portland Trail Blazers traded guard CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday in a deal that included six other players and three draft selections.
Guards Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tomas Satoransky and Didi Louzada will join the Trail Blazers. The Pelicans received McCollum, who was in his ninth season with Portland, plus forwards Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell.
9 years
Countless clutch buckets
A fixture in the Portland community
FOREVER a part of the Blazers family
Thank you for everything, @CJMcCollum ❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/R7OALU8iUu
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 9, 2022
Portland will also receive a protected 2022 first-round pick and two second-round picks from New Orleans in the trade.
McCollum, 30, is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 36 starts in 2021-22. He missed 18 games earlier this season with a collapsed right lung sustained in a Dec. 4 loss to the Boston Celtics.
McCollum, the 10th overall pick in 2013 and the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2015-16, owns career averages of 19.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 564 games (467 starts). He ranks second in Blazers history with 1,297 career 3-pointers, trailing longtime backcourt partner Damian Lillard (2,143), and is fifth with 10,710 career points.
FILE – Damian Lillard #0 and CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers talk during a stoppage in play against the Brooklyn Nets during the fourth quarter at Moda Center on March 23, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. Steph Chambers/Getty Images/AFP
Portland made the playoffs in each of McCollum’s first eight seasons but enters Tuesday night’s game against Orlando in 11th place in the West with a 21-33 record, a half-game behind the Pelicans (21-32) for a play-in spot.
Hart, 26, is in his third season with New Orleans after spending his first two NBA campaigns with the Los Angeles Lakers. He is averaging 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 41 games (40 starts) this season.
Alexander-Walker, 23, is averaging 12.8 points, 3.3 boards and 2.8 assists through 50 games (19 starts) in his third season with the Pelicans.
Satoransky, 30, is contributing 2.8 points, 2.4 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 32 games (three starts) in his first season with New Orleans.
Louzada, 23, is sidelined with a torn meniscus in his left knee. He played in five games over the past two seasons, contributing a total of eight points, five assists and four rebounds.
Nance, 29, is averaging 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds in 37 games (11 starts) in his first season with Portland. The seven-year veteran has missed the past 17 games due to a knee injury.
Snell, 30, is also in his first season with the Blazers, averaging 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 38 games (10 starts).