Incoming fourth-year shooting guard CJ McCollum agreed to a new four-year, $106 million maximum contract extension with the Portland Trail Blazers, the team that drafted him 10th overall in 2013.
Last season, the 24-year-old McCollum was a big revelation for the Blazers and has become the team's second-best player behind team leader Damian Lillard as he averaged career-highs of 20.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.2 steals playing in 34.8 minutes per night in 80 games as a starter for head coach Terry Stotts.
The former Lehigh Mountain Hawks standout, who won the 2016 NBA Most Improved Player award, evidently became better by leaps and bounds from his 6.8 points, 1.5 boards, and 1.0 assists per game averages during the previous year, which may have prompted Portland to reward him with the max deal to keep him for the next four years.
Yahoo Sports noted that the agreement, which was conferred by Blazers GM Neil Olshey and McCollum's agent, Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports for half a month, does not include any player options and trade kickers.
After McCollum's breakthrough year in 2015-2016, the 6-foot-4 two guard is set to receive a maximum contract offer from other teams either way next summer when he becomes a free agent. By signing him now, Portland took away the risk of having to contend a "poison pill" offer sheet from other teams that they may not be able to match.
However, the effectivity of his current contract extension will begin in 2017-2018 as he will still have to finish the final year of his four-year, $10.4 million rookie deal this coming season. He is set to earn $3.2 million in 2016-2017 before his annual average salary booms into $26.7 million two seasons from now.
McCollum will receive $24 million in 2017-2018, $25.8 million in 2018-2019, $27.6 million in 2019-2020, and a whopping $29.4 million in 2020-2021 before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Fansided noted that McCollum's re-signing means that the Blazers have already learned their lesson on free agent departures this past couple of seasons.
Last year's free-agency was a particularly tough time for the franchise as they saw the departures of LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, Robin Lopez, and Arron Afflalo. Learning from their mistakes, they did not allow McCollum to enter free-agency anymore as they locked him with a multi-year contract that both parties deserve.
