PORTLAND, Ore. — CJ McCollum is back in Portland, facing the Blazers as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans for the first time since the Feb. 8 trade that sent the longtime Portland Trail Blazers star to New Orleans. McCollum averaged 19.0 points over nine seasons with the Blazers and is the fifth-leading scorer (10,710 points) in team history.
Wednesday’s game tips off shortly after 7 p.m. and will air on ROOT Sports. KGW’s Orlando Sanchez will cover the game at Moda Center. Follow Orlando on Twitter for updates.
On Wednesday morning, McCollum spoke to the media after shootaround. Jason Quick of The Athletic asked him what emotions he's experienced being back in Portland. McCollum said it's been "weird."
"It's been a weird few hours," McCollum said, adding that Wednesday was the first time he'd been inside the visitors locker room at Moda Center. "Outside of that, I think it will be a good time tonight. It will be fun to play here, and for the fans as well, I think it will be a nice situation for everybody involved. And it was nice to be at home last night."
RELATED: 'No one can replace CJ McCollum': Fans react to the Blazers' trade of longtime star shooting guard
The best part about coming back to Portland, McCollum said, was getting to spend time with his wife, Elise, his 11-week-old son Jacobi, and his dog. "It was nice," McCollum said about seeing his family. "It's a shame we had to have shootaround today."
McCollum said his family stayed back in Portland after the trade. They visited him in New Orleans last week and McCollum said the entire family plans to transition out to New Orleans full time in the fall. He said the hardest part about the trade was leaving his family, even if only for a few months. When he was traded, his son was just three weeks old.
"Leaving my little boy, leaving my wife, and what's that going to look like, how do they transition to New Orleans, when do they transition," he said. "Those are things you don't think about, the human element of a trade. It's like, 'Oh, he's getting traded, he gets paid millions of dollars, he'll be alright.' And he will be alright, but he still has to figure out some things for his family and his lifestyle."
McCollum's wife and his mother will be at Wednesday's game, McCollum said.
Orlando Sanchez of KGW asked McCollum if he's taken any time being back in Portland to look back on his legacy with the Blazers.
"Honestly, not really," he said. "I think I'll maybe more so look back, some tonight, but more so in the offseason when I'm spending time here, doing different things with my wine business and my family. That's probably when I'll look back."
During the game, McCollum said he'll try to soak it all in.
"I'll enjoy the process in the moment," he said. "This is, hopefully, once in a lifetime, playing for a team for so long and then coming back and having happy memories, happy moments, and fans appreciating what you do and how you kind of did it, and me appreciating the organization and the fans. I think that will be great. We'll enjoy it and I'll try to take it in and stay focused and locked in on what I came here to do, and then we'll move forward."
McCollum said it helps that he and the Blazers parted on good terms, making this a happy reunion. "It's good that there are happy emotions, as opposed to the opposite. I like to call it a happy breakup, where you're not bitter at your ex," he said.
RELATED: 'A part of me will always be here in Oregon': CJ McCollum says goodbye to Blazers teammates, fans
Since the trade, McCollum has played well for the Pelicans, averaging 25.9 points, 6.5 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals, while shooting 50.1% from the field and 38.4% from 3. McCollum said his fit in New Orleans has been great.
"I knew what I was going to be asked to do and I'm doing it," he said. "I think they've held up their end of the bargain as well. I'm happy to be in this situation, it's 75 degrees every day, I can eat gumbo if I want. Southern cuisine, they got French wine, which is nice. Basketball has been great. It's been an easy transition. ... I've been playing for a long time, so I'm able to adapt quickly and be myself in any environment."
The Pelicans are 10-11 since the trade and are trying to maintain their hold on one of the final two play-in spots, which would give them a chance at making the playoffs. Currently, the Pelicans (32-43) are in ninth place in the Western Conference, a game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers (both have 31-44 records).
New Orleans has seven games left in the regular season. If they finish in ninth or 10th place (they’re 4.5 games behind the eighth-place Clippers, so it’s unlikely they can move higher than ninth), they’ll need to win two games to reach the playoffs. If they win the matchup between the ninth and 10-place teams, they’d then have to beat the loser of the 7-8 matchup to earn a playoff spot. Right now, the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves occupy the seventh and eighth spots in the West.
Portland has interest in how the Pelicans' season ends. In the McCollum trade, Portland received New Orleans’ protected 2022 first-round pick, which will convey to the Blazers if the Pelicans don’t make the playoffs and if the pick doesn’t land among the top four selections. If the Pelicans make the playoffs, the pick doesn’t convey this season and converts to a 2025 first-round selection from the Milwaukee Bucks.
In a conversation with Trail Blazers reporter Casey Holdahl, McCollum said he’s well aware of Portland’s connection to the Pelicans’ success this season. "Hopefully we get to the playoffs so that you guys lose your draft pick," he said.
Portland has gone in the opposite direction of the Pelicans since the trade. At the deadline, the Blazers traded away multiple starters in McCollum, Norman Powell and Robert Covington and a high-usage reserve in Larry Nance, who went to the Pelicans in the McCollum trade and is expected to play tonight against the Blazers.
The Blazers' top players haven’t seen much time on the court since the trade deadline, with Portland announcing last week that Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic will all miss the rest of the season. Josh Hart, the best player that came to the Blazers at the deadline, averaged 19.9 points in 13 games with the Blazers, but he’s missed the past five games with left knee patellar tendinopathy.
McCollum said it won't be as fun playing against the Blazers when some of his former teammates like Lillard and Nurkic aren't suiting up and playing. "Yeah, won't be as fun. But they'll be back eventually," he said.
The Blazers, who could end up with two lottery picks in the upcoming draft, their own and the Pelicans' pick, are prioritizing draft position over wins as the season winds down. The team won four in a row after the McCollum trade but after that short winning streak, Portland has lost 14 of its past 16 games.
Portland (27-48) currently has the seventh-worst record in the NBA and is tied in the wins column with Sacramento. If the Blazers move below the Kings in the standings by the end of the regular season and finish with the sixth-worst record in the league, they’d increase their odds of landing a top four selection in this summer's NBA draft from 31.9% to 37.2% and their odds of securing the No. 1 overall pick from 7.5% to 9.0%.
Portland has seven games remaining in the regular season. After Wednesday’s game against the Pelicans, the Blazers have two games against the San Antonio Spurs (31-44) and games against the Oklahoma City Thunder (22-53), Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks (47-29) and Utah Jazz (45-31).
The regular season ends April 10. The NBA draft lottery is May 17. The NBA draft is June 23.
