Should Celtics make a trade with Portland for CJ McCollum or Damian Lillard?
The Boston Celtics are gaining flexibility to retool on the fly. With Kemba Walker gone, their offense needs a new identity and some significant names are emerging in Portland. If the Celtics are looking for a Kemba Walker/Kyrie Irving/Isaiah Thomas/Phil Pressey-type replacement, CJ McCollum fits that bill on the floor with his proven skillset. Rumblings of the Celtics potential interest in McCollum surfaced soon after the Walker trade and it makes sense Boston might want a three-level playmaker whose team may consider moving him. There could be an opportunity to swap at least Marcus Smart, Tristan Thompson for McCollum, a top 30 scorer in the league last season. The pros with McCollum are fairly straightforward. He can fulfill the role Walker was excelling in up until his knee injury in February 2020, essentially functioning at the point alongside two notably improved playmakers at the wings in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He is well-composed running the pick-and-roll and coming over a screen to find his shot or make a good pass. In many ways, he is a more potent version of Evan Fournier on offense and so his fit should be great. A big part of why he could enhance the Celtics offense is his patience and comfort working in the midrange and paint. That was Walkers strength before his injury, but he stopped taking a lot of his 18-foot pull-ups or working his way into the paint at a steady pace to pick out an open shooter or drop-off pass to a big man. He was still good at it, but just not at the level he previously established. McCollum is good at this kind of complementary playmaking and operates with a grace that gets him into tight spots where he can finish or pass effortlessly. He can use subtle moves to get past his initial defender and carve up the space between the front and back lines of the defense, which is a major need for the Celtics with Walker gone. The Celtics looked like they were trying to find more control on offense last season and while Walker could deliver that on and off, McCollum can carry that burden every night. That, of course, is with Tatum and Brown out there. McCollums track record as the second star next to an MVP-caliber player is clear at this point, but he hasnt quite been able to prove that is a winning arrangement in the postseason. The responsibility to carry the offense drops off dramatically as the third star and could be right in his wheelhouse at this point. While Walker didnt work in his role last season, that was more because he wasnt shooting well or fighting his way into the paint than the actual opportunities the offense was creating for him. Before evaluating the trade and his market, the big question is where McCollums career goes from here. The 29-year-old was playing the best basketball of his career early in the season until a fractured left foot suffered in January cost him two months. This was the third time he has suffered the injury, breaking the same foot in his senior year of college and then again nine months later. Its been eight years since the last break, but hell turn 30 just before the season starts and the Celtics have learned the hard way (again) how a guards injuries can exacerbate problems once they turn 30. McCollum was not the same player after returning from the injury and never established himself as a series-shaping star in Portlands first-round loss to Denver  against a depleted Nuggets backcourt  so there are some concerns over whether he was recovering from an injury or beginning the downslope of his peak. McCollum still has $100 million over three years remaining on his deal. The Athletics John Hollinger reported earlier this month that McCollum is viewed throughout the league as having negative trade value, the same thing The Athletic reported about Walker before the Celtics had to attach a first-round pick to send him to Oklahoma City for Al Horford and Moses Brown. Including Marcus Smart in a deal should at least bring Blazers general manager Neil Olshey to the table. He could view Smart as the key to improving one of the leagues worst defenses last season. Smart is coming off a relatively down defensive season, though that could be because he had to devote time to telling new guys where to go as they were struggling to figure out coverages. If Olshey thinks Anfernee Simons is ready to take on a major rotation role after a season in which his growth as an on-ball player stunted, this framework could work. But Portland presumably wants to keep Damian Lillard on board and taking away the only other good playmaker on the team without bringing one back in return may work against that goal. Of course, things change drastically if Lillard wants out anyway. On Sunday, Yahoo! Sports reported Lillard may consider leaving Portland as a result of the decision to hire Chauncey Billups. According to the report Lillard was unaware of sexual assault allegations against Billups from 1997 and there were concerns the team cant build a contender around him. Boston is well-positioned to go after Lillard with a package built around Jaylen Brown, which would mean Tatum needs to be ready to play for a title right away. That seems plausible, given how dangerous a scorer he was in the latter third of the season. The teams current rotation may not need much revision to fit around Lillard and Tatum. Brad Stevens mentioned multiple times last week that the Walker for Horford deal was important to opening more financial flexibility over the next two offseasons. Last year, the Celtics cleared some of the deck to set the stage for that flexibility. Whether its this summer or the next, they will need to go all-in. The Blazers failures may be their best shot. (Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)