Blazers Trading CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr To Pelicans In 7-Player Deal

February 8, 2022

The Trail Blazers have agreed to trade guard CJ McCollum, forward Larry Nance Jr. and guard/forward Tony Snell to the Pelicans, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

In exchange, Portland will receive guards Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Walker-Alexander, small forward Didi Louzada, as well as a 2022 protected first-round pick and two second-round picks, Wojnaowski reported.

The biggest name in the trade, of course, being McCollum, who has only played for the Blazers since the team selected him with the No. 10 overall pick in 2013. It also means an end of Portland’s popular backcourt of McCollum and Damian Lillard, which has been a mainstay in the Western Conference for almost a decade.

Meanwhile, Nance was acquired by the Blazers from the Cavaliers in a three-way trade with the Bulls at the start of the season. Both McCollum (Canton) and Nance (Akron) hail from the Northeast Ohio area.

Pelicans president of basketball operations David Griffin had been in pursuit of McCollum, looking for a veteran guard to add alongside small forward Brandon Ingram and power forward Zion Williamson (when healthy).

McCollum, 30, probably could have used a change of scenery himself, as the Blazers are clearly in retool mode under interim GM Joe Cronin. The fact they are getting a fist-round pick as pat of the deal tells you a lot about their plans — and makes you wonder if Lillard may not be the next to go. At this point, he may actually want to go.

For now, though, it seems that is not the case, per Wojnarowski.

“Portland’s plan is to fully reshape roster around Lillard now,” Wojnarowski wrote. “Portland created a $21M trade exception today, potentially $60M in salary cap space this summer, multiple draft picks and assets via Pels and Clippers trades. Plan is to pursue high-end talent now, not retreat.”

Bottom line: All we really know is the Blazers are already stating to look very different from the beginning of the season, and that promises to be the case even more so at the start of next.