According to NBA.com, Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum was named the NBA Most Improved Player award on Friday, after a season where he saw his scoring increase to 20.8, up more than 14 points per game from last season. In a season in which the Blazers were expected to be a lottery team after losing 4 of the 5 starters, including All Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, McCollum and point guard Damian Lillard, the only returning starter, led the team to 44 wins and a 5th seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The duo were also the 3rd highest scoring duo, averaging a combined 45.9 points per game.
That type of production leaves us no choice but to ask the question; where does McCollum and Lillard rank in the discussion of best backcourts in the NBA?
Well, if we are excluding the Splash Brothers– the undisputed title holders, then I would say that they are definitely in the conversation, behind Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry and Washington’s John Wall and a HEALTHY Bradley Beal. Overall, Portland’s team improvement throughout the season was a byproduct of their backcourt stepping up on an nightly basis. These two players can flat out get buckets, and they have an amazing chemistry with one another.
The knock on them is that neither of them will ever be among the best defenders in the league. In the NBA, scoring 50 points with you backcourt doesn’t’ mean anything if they gave up 50 points.
These two will be in the conversation for years to come, but they aren’t quite ready for the crown just yet.
