CJ McCollum loved being a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. But when he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, he knew there was a chance for something special.
The Pels were one of the more fascinating teams in the NBA this season. They boast a young, up-and-coming core, but were without their headliner, Zion Williamson, all season. That didn’t prevent them from hanging around the fringe of the playoff picture much of the season, prompting the organization to pull off a surprise move by trading for McCollum.
He helped to push them further in the right direction, getting New Orleans through the play-in tournament before they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Phoenix Suns in six games.
From the moment he was moved out of Portland, McCollum felt he was heading to a playoff team. And appearing on McCollum’s podcast “Pull Up,” Larry Nance Jr., who also went from the Blazers to the Pelicans in that trade, confirmed that McCollum did make such a declaration.
"First things first, you said it was going to be a great situation," Nance said. "You said that there’s all this young talent and the big fella (Williamson) is not even playing yet. But most importantly, you said ‘we’re going to get to these playoffs.’ …
“You were the first to say, the day after we got traded, yeah, we’re going to go to the playoffs. You said I’m not here to play around.”
Nance got surgery on his knee as the trade was coming together, so right away he knew he wasn’t going to be available to his new team for at least a month.
That was no problem for McCollum.
“You were like 'I’m in Chicago about to get surgery done',” McCollum said. “I said 'well how long is the rehab?' And you said 'I don’t know, four-to-six weeks.' I was like perfect, you’ll be back just in time for the playoffs.”
McCollum, obviously, was right. And if his bullish outlook on the future of his team also comes to pass, then the Pelicans could be a tough out in the Western Conference for years to come.
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