The Portland Trail Blazers are trading CJ McCollum in an effort to re-shape their roster around Damian Lillard, according to reports.
The Blazers are trading McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans for three players, including Josh Hart, and draft compensation.
This effectively ends Philadelphia's hopes of landing Lillard in a trade for Ben Simmons.
McCollum has been a member of the Blazers since he was drafted with the No. 10 pick in 2013 out of Lehigh, and has formed half of the dynamic backcourt duo with star guard Damian Lillard the past half-decade.
The 6-3, 190-pound McCollum is an elite shooter and scorer, with a career average of 19 points per game, just shy of 40% from 3-point range and 82% from the free throw line, with his averages this season all ticking close to that mark. The Pelicans will be shipping out a player that's put forth one of his best seasons in his own right in Hart, a ferocious rebounder at his size who has turned up his playmaking and slashing abilities since joining the Pelicans.
McCollum now is in the first of a three-year, 100,000 contract and an average salary of $33 million. Hart is also in the first year of his deal that pays and average of just over $12.5 million annually, meaning additional salaries will have to be included to reach the threshold to allow a trade.
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McCollum's name was a popular one heading to the Thursday trade deadline, with multiple teams in the running to acquire his services with the Blazers falling back quickly in the Western Conference standings, losers of five straight. The Pelicans, meanwhile, appear to be loading up for a run at the postseason, bouncing back from a 3-16 start to the season with a record of 18-16 since and overtaking the Blazers this week for the 10th seed that would mark the final position in the play-in tournament.
The Sixers will now turn their focus to names like James Harden and Bradley Beal, as Lillard seems officially off of the table.