The Trail Blazers have endured a rough season but they will get one of their top players back in action on Monday, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Guard CJ McCollum will be in uniform against Orlando after fully recovering from a collapsed lung, an injury he suffered against Boston on Dec. 4. Portland indicated in a press release two days before Christmas that McCollum’s lung had healed but he required several more weeks of recovery to regain his conditioning.
McCollum has averaged 20.6 PPG and 4.5 APG on .424/.393/.700 shooting in 24 games (35.3 MPG) so far this season. The 30-year-old, who is in the first year of a three-year, $100MM contract, could be an in-season trade candidate.
McCollum’s long-term backcourt partner, Damian Lillard, underwent abdominal surgery on Thursday and will be reevaluated in 5-6 weeks. Portland is currently 10th in the Western Conference standings with a 16-25 record.
Desctiptions of Lung Collapse do not indicate future decline outside of just being susceptible to it, but it is rare. If his stamina is okay then he probably is too. A Google search did not have anyone saying otherwise. Flying may be an issue, with the air pressure changes.
Blazers own all their own picks 1-14. When they get one lower it goes to CHI; that is the only obligation. Blazers should offer them for a forward star like Jeremi Grant before offering Lillard… win now.