Miami Heat: With Lillard Drawing Attention, What About CJ McCollum?

The Miami Heat Need another guy and Damian Lillard may come available, but that would also mean that CJ McCollum isn’t that far behind.

In 47 games, McCollum averaged 23.1 points and 4.7 assists, on nearly 46 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Despite not having the deep-range shooting and the sheer athleticism of Lillard, McCollum can still carry an offense just as prominently as his backcourt partner and has mastered the ability to create offense within his own means.

With strong tendencies to operate in the in-between with runners, leaners, and floaters, McCollum can get to wherever spot he needs to on the floor, therewithal having one of the deadliest mid-range jumpers in the league. His pump-fakes coming in transition are lethal and the Heat have witnessed it first hand, as McCollum scored 35 points in a Blazers win on March 25th.

However, a few recent postseason lapses have shone a, somewhat, negative light on McCollum. An ignition was during this year’s first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, where McCollum committed a critical out-of-bounds turnover in the final moments of Game 5, with the Nuggets taking a 3-2 series lead at home.

Many believe McCollum’s recent playoff shortcomings have caused teams to lose interest in potentially trading for him. As he’s set to make over $30 million through the 2023-34 season — albeit never being voted as an All-Star — the Heat shouldn’t fall from being an exception to pursue the seven-year guard.

Like his teammate Lillard and though a bit differently in execution, McCollum could still alleviate the Heat’s offensive struggles and while he is a below-average defender, the Heat would still be able to defend well enough by having All-NBA defenders in Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo taking on the challenge of making it happen.