C.J. McCollum Now Ranked the Best Shooting Guard in the NBA
Due to his Tremendous Season, Bleacher Report and Rip City Project Believe C.J. McCollum is the best Shooting Guard in the NBA
Although he was snubbed for the All-Star game, C.J. McCollum is turning heads. We all watched him turn into an elite guard during the Portland vs. Memphis playoffs two years ago. In that series, he made up for Wesley Matthews’ injury with an explosion of scoring that strong defensive team just couldn’t contain.
He was the reason Portland felt comfortable blowing up the roster last summer. And now, after two years of averaging over 20 points, Bleacher Report has dubbed McCollum the Best Shooting Guard in the NBA.
The ranking has McCollum above All-Stars Klay Thompson and (ex) Demar Derozan, and is the first list RCP has seen with McCollum as the top pick. They credit McCollum’s juggernaut offense as enough to push him over the top (despite his suspect defense).
After two straight years of debating Damian Lillard’s ranking in the point guard hierarchy (not mentioned in this list), it’s nice to see the Lehigh Alum get some love. The spot was open for the taking after James Harden moved to point guard and Kevin Durant took touches away from Thompson.
All of Rip City is aware that McCollum can still bring headaches on defense. Any sort of improvement could make him an MVP candidate. Could you imagine if he had the defense of a lockdown defender like Tony Allen or Avery Bradley? Combine an elite defense with his offense, and that is a potential career path to the hall of fame.
Although the Blazer’s backcourt gets a lot of flak for their defense, there is something to consider.
When you think of his full basketball career, McCollum was the best player on his team in high-school and college. In both instances, the level of talent just wasn’t near the NBA level. Therefore for eight years, he crafted his defense on basketball players with less talent any NBA player. That’s a hard habit to break.
However if he can improve his defense, then there is no reason why McCollum shouldn’t stay at the top for years to come.
Congrats C.J. on this accomplishment from everyone at RCP. I’m sure it means a lot to you and your family and we are proud of your accomplishment.
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