C.J. McCollum

[roasthawg]

Anyone else wanting this guy at #7? Of the players that look to have a high likelihood of being on the board when we pick I think C.J. is clearly the best prospect. Prospect-wise he compares to Damian Lillard imo... similar athletes both from small schools with similar games. Lillard is probably a little better offensively while C.J. looks to have a better upside on defense maybe. C.J. is not an ideal fit for this team but imo it's best to draft bpa in the nba rather than for need as there are so few actual impact players in every draft. McCollum looks to have the best chance of being an impact pro of any of the guys that might be around at our pick... assuming the 3 and D guys like Oladipo are off the board I'm really hoping C.J. is still there.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Lillard was a much better playmaker in college. At 6'3, with a similar Assist/turn as Reke coming out, I don't see how McCollum becomes a solid quality starter.. but we'll see, he certainly lit it up, and he might turn out well

 

[funkykingston]

Lillard was a much better playmaker in college. At 6'3, with a similar Assist/turn as Reke coming out, I don't see how McCollum becomes a solid quality starter.. but we'll see, he certainly lit it up, and he might turn out well

Lillard was not a better playmaker in college. Both guys averaged around 3.6 assists and 2.3 turnovers. In fact, by the numbers (both statistics and athletic testing measurements) the two guys look like carbon copies of one another. But from the little game film I've seen of both (especially Lehigh's tourney win over Duke I'd say that Lillard is better at attacking the basket and McCollum is a better shooter.

With both guys the notion was that playing at a small school they didn't have the talent around them to be distributors but had the ability to do so on the NBA level. Lillard showed that to be the case last year. He's certainly not a "pure PG" with extraordinary court vision but he can run a team. Whether CJ can I don't know, but the same thinking is being used to promote him as an NBA point.

Tyreke is a different story. He played in a loaded Memphis team and showed that he's not a true passer, just a guy who plays best with the ball in his hands.

Personally I think McCollum would be a great fit with the Kings and is currently my favorite pick if we keep #7 and Porter and Noel are gone.

 

[Gilles]

He might be Beno with good athleticism. Can play on and off the ball. Probably ready for 25 mpg right away. If Reke stays, Kings will probably have to move two of IT, Fredette and Thornton - just too many small scoring guards. In Combine interview mentions that he's working on his lateral movement, so at least until he's drafted, McCollum will care about his defense.

 

[Gilles]

Tyreke is a different story. He played in a loaded Memphis team and showed that he's not a true passer, just a guy who plays best with the ball in his hands.

With whom? Everybody on that team couldn't make a dribble without turning the ball over. They had only 1.5 good shooters to space for Calipari's dribble-drive. Calipari moved Evans to the lead guard during the season after a few losses. Tigers went without them the rest of the way until OT loss to higher seeded Mizzou in the Tourney.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Lillard was not a better playmaker in college. Both guys averaged around 3.6 assists and 2.3 turnovers. In fact, by the numbers (both statistics and athletic testing measurements) the two guys look like carbon copies of one another. But from the little game film I've seen of both (especially Lehigh's tourney win over Duke I'd say that Lillard is better at attacking the basket and McCollum is a better shooter.

With both guys the notion was that playing at a small school they didn't have the talent around them to be distributors but had the ability to do so on the NBA level. Lillard showed that to be the case last year. He's certainly not a "pure PG" with extraordinary court vision but he can run a team. Whether CJ can I don't know, but the same thinking is being used to promote him as an NBA point.

Tyreke is a different story. He played in a loaded Memphis team and showed that he's not a true passer, just a guy who plays best with the ball in his hands.

Personally I think McCollum would be a great fit with the Kings and is currently my favorite pick if we keep #7 and Porter and Noel are gone.

This year CJ averaged 2.9 assist/2.7 turnovers a game.. Lillard coming out averaged 4.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers in 2011-2012... Again, you probably do study this more than me, so no need to get into a conversation about it.. But aren't there a lot of diminutive guards on this team that have a scorers mentality? do we need a guard with pure pg instincts?

 

[Gilles]

This year CJ averaged 2.9 assist/2.7 turnovers a game.. Lillard coming out averaged 4.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers in 2011-2012... Again, you probably do study this more than me, so no need to get into a conversation about it.. But aren't there a lot of diminutive guards on this team that have a scorers mentality? do we need a guard with pure pg instincts?

Lillard: .271 ast% and .107 TOV% as a senior
McCollum: .254 ast% and .105 TOV% as a junior(senior season is only 12 games and numbers are close anyway but otherwise you will also have to believe he's the greatest shooter in history with .516 in 3pt%)
Neither was dominating passing PG in college but both looked to find their teammates and played in control. Lillard edges McCollum slightly across the board: athleticism, passing, shooting. McCollum has the upper hand on defense by a good margin.

 

[funkykingston]

He might be Beno with good athleticism. Can play on and off the ball. Probably ready for 25 mpg right away. If Reke stays, Kings will probably have to move two of IT, Fredette and Thornton - just too many small scoring guards. In Combine interview mentions that he's working on his lateral movement, so at least until he's drafted, McCollum will care about his defense.

That's funny as last night I was thinking of that same comparison. A slightly smaller, better shooting and slightly more athletic Beno. We know that type of player can mesh well with Reke. I was McCollum was slightly bigger to allow him to guard either PGs or SGs but I still like him as our pick.

With whom? Everybody on that team couldn't make a dribble without turning the ball over. They had only 1.5 good shooters to space for Calipari's dribble-drive. Calipari moved Evans to the lead guard during the season after a few losses. Tigers went without them the rest of the way until OT loss to higher seeded Mizzou in the Tourney.

You're right - loaded was overstating it as there wasn't another NBA level talent on that squad BUT still I'd argue that Tigers team had a LOT more talent than anybody that McCollum has played with at Lehigh.

This year CJ averaged 2.9 assist/2.7 turnovers a game.. Lillard coming out averaged 4.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers in 2011-2012... Again, you probably do study this more than me, so no need to get into a conversation about it.. But aren't there a lot of diminutive guards on this team that have a scorers mentality? do we need a guard with pure pg instincts?

Lillard: .271 ast% and .107 TOV% as a senior
McCollum: .254 ast% and .105 TOV% as a junior(senior season is only 12 games and numbers are close anyway but otherwise you will also have to believe he's the greatest shooter in history with .516 in 3pt%)
Neither was dominating passing PG in college but both looked to find their teammates and played in control. Lillard edges McCollum slightly across the board: athleticism, passing, shooting. McCollum has the upper hand on defense by a good margin.

Exactly. I have no idea why McCollum's assist numbers dipped this year (not surprisingly I didn't see a single Lehigh game) but it is a relatively small sample size before he broke his foot. But his junior year he averaged 3.5 APG and 2.3 TO. Lillard's junior year (when he broke his foot and missed most of the season) he was averaging 3.7 and 3.1. His sophomore year it was 3.6 and 2.4.

Personally I think CJ is a better shooter. His form isn't as pretty and I think you give a slight nod to Lillard as a 3pt shooter but McCollum has a better midrange game and can shoot off the dribble, off the catch, off screens and his step back jumper is a great weapon.

All the similarities aside I think McCollum is more a poor man's Steph Curry than Lillard part II. Either way, I see him as a good fit if Tyreke and Cousins are still on the roster.

 

[kingwin]

mccollum reminds me of a george hill type of player, a combo guard. i think he would be a great fit next to tyreke. can shoot, they sort of share ball handling duties, defensively im not sure bt offensively this is the kind guard we need to put next to tyreke. im ok with with it if we go this direction. BETTER THAN MCW

 

[cuad]

mccollum reminds me of a george hill type of player, a combo guard. i think he would be a great fit next to tyreke. can shoot, they sort of share ball handling duties, defensively im not sure bt offensively this is the kind guard we need to put next to tyreke. im ok with with it if we go this direction. BETTER THAN MCW

If he really is a George Hill type player, then it might be a good idea to draft him. Like, the Kings could try to copy Indiana's team with Tyreke = Born Ready, McCollum = G. Hill, and Cousins = D. West.

 

[ParniValjak]

On paper, I think this kid is the best backcourt fit next to Tyreke. He can handle the ball, pass, shoot, can play off the ball and could be a good defender. In other words this could be a better shooting Beno type player for us. Exactly the type of player that works well with Tyreke.

 

[funkykingston]

If he really is a George Hill type player, then it might be a good idea to draft him. Like, the Kings could try to copy Indiana's team with Tyreke = Born Ready, McCollum = G. Hill, and Cousins = D. West.

The 2 problems with that analogy are that (1) Evans is better than Stephenson and Cousins is much better than West and (2) it means we still need a Paul George and Roy Hibbert.

 

[bajaden]

Lillard was not a better playmaker in college. Both guys averaged around 3.6 assists and 2.3 turnovers. In fact, by the numbers (both statistics and athletic testing measurements) the two guys look like carbon copies of one another. But from the little game film I've seen of both (especially Lehigh's tourney win over Duke I'd say that Lillard is better at attacking the basket and McCollum is a better shooter.

With both guys the notion was that playing at a small school they didn't have the talent around them to be distributors but had the ability to do so on the NBA level. Lillard showed that to be the case last year. He's certainly not a "pure PG" with extraordinary court vision but he can run a team. Whether CJ can I don't know, but the same thinking is being used to promote him as an NBA point.

Tyreke is a different story. He played in a loaded Memphis team and showed that he's not a true passer, just a guy who plays best with the ball in his hands.

Personally I think McCollum would be a great fit with the Kings and is currently my favorite pick if we keep #7 and Porter and Noel are gone.

If your just going off stats, they might look similar, but if you watched them play, it became obvious that Lillard was a PG, and McCollum played like a SG. Thats not to say that he couldn't convert to playing PG. I honestly don't know. But I had no doubts about Lillard coming out of college. I will say this, how many assists you end up with has a lot to do with the people around you. And both guys were asked to carry their team at times. In McCollum's case, it was most of the time.

 

[Gilles]

McCollum played a lot off the ball because Lehigh had another ballhandler in McKnight since his sophomore season. Lillard didn't have that luxury.

 

[beb0p]

The thing with these shoot-first guards is that there is no rhyme or reason why some make it as a PG and others don't. You can debate stats all you want but the bottom line is that it's all just throwing darts when it comes to these guys. There is simply no pattern on why some get it and some don't. Some players just get it and some don't. Case in point, Jerryd Bayless, hotshot young scoring PG from Arizona, turns out he isn't a PG. Same with Jimmer, quincy Douby, Juan Dixon, and a whole lot of other guards. Trust me, their college stats all look decent to good in terms of assists and they all ran the offense occasionally in college. But none of them could cut it as the quarterback. And then there's Gilbert Arenas, has more TOs than assists in college. But somehow, some way, this SG with a negative assists to TO ratio figured out how to be a PG. A few guys could figure out the position, most don't. That's the bottom line.

I have no idea if McCollum can play PG, none of you do and none of the scouts do either. It's a gamble. Simple as that.

 

[Entity]

I would take a flyer on him bring him in to replace Jimmer. Let him develope his PG skills in summer league throughout the season and next summer league and decide next off season if he can replace Isiah or do we need to look elswhere for this type of player. If he can play off the ball as well staying outside he could be good fit with Tyreke. Use Marcus Thornton and jimmer as a trade piece to get a SF. Let Salmons finish his contract as our 4th guard keep Douglas around just in case.

Thomas/Mccolum/Douglas
Tyreke/Salmons/Mccolum
???/Salmons/Outlaw?
Thompson/PPat
Cousins/Thompson/Hayes

use other 2 spots for depth at the 4/5 and another sf

 

[funkykingston]

The thing with these shoot-first guards is that there is no rhyme or reason why some make it as a PG and others don't. You can debate stats all you want but the bottom line is that it's all just throwing darts when it comes to these guys. There is simply no pattern on why some get it and some don't. Some players just get it and some don't. Case in point, Jerryd Bayless, hotshot young scoring PG from Arizona, turns out he isn't a PG. Same with Jimmer, quincy Douby, Juan Dixon, and a whole lot of other guards. Trust me, their college stats all look decent to good in terms of assists and they all ran the offense occasionally in college. But none of them could cut it as the quarterback. And then there's Gilbert Arenas, has more TOs than assists in college. But somehow, some way, this SG with a negative assists to TO ratio figured out how to be a PG. A few guys could figure out the position, most don't. That's the bottom line.

I have no idea if McCollum can play PG, none of you do and none of the scouts do either. It's a gamble. Simple as that.

The luxury the Kings have in Tyreke (assuming he is re-signed) is that McCollum wouldn't have to be a true PG. They'd both handle the ball and assume some playmaking duties. But I have pretty good confidence in McCollum that he could make the switch. He's smart and a hard worker with shooting skills that will allow him to contribute immediately. Juan Dixon was never going to be a PG. He just flat out didn't have the handles, let alone the court vision or experience. His whole college career he was an off the ball player with Steve Blake manning the PG duties. Douby was also not a combo guard, just an undersized 2. Jimmer is an interesting comparison, but smaller, slower and not as a good a ballhandler, though he is twice the shooter McCollum is. I never thought Bayless would be a true PG, but I DID think he could be Gilbert Arenas without the personality issues. And the same may be true of McCollum, though they are very different in terms of style of play.

Somewhere between George Hill and Steph Curry is how I see him. Not a true playmaker, but a good shooter/scorer. Good effort defensively though without the athletic tools to be anything but average as a man defender. But he'd give Cousins and Evans (again, assuming he's back) room to operate. Unless somebody tumbles down to #7 (Porter, Noel etc) I'm fine with him as the Kings pick. Much more so than a big gamble like Bennett, MCW or Len who I don't see helping right away.

 

[Hallama]

If Tyreke is resigned, then I think it increases the chances the Kings take McCollum. He makes a ton of sense pairing him in the backcourt with Tyreke. And if Vivek goes with a Golden State F.O./coach, then I'd think the odds increase even further because of their positive Steph Curry experience.

 

[Kingster]

If your just going off stats, they might look similar, but if you watched them play, it became obvious that Lillard was a PG, and McCollum played like a SG. Thats not to say that he couldn't convert to playing PG. I honestly don't know. But I had no doubts about Lillard coming out of college. I will say this, how many assists you end up with has a lot to do with the people around you. And both guys were asked to carry their team at times. In McCollum's case, it was most of the time.

So how does he compare to Thornton, Douglas, and Jimmer?

 

[Hallama]

So how does he compare to Thornton, Douglas, and Jimmer?

The way I look at it is McCollum is most similar to Jimmer overall, and if the Kings drafted McC they'd be basically trying to cover a mistake with a guy who could be what they thought Jimmer would be.

McCollum has a much better PnR game than Jimmer, and pretty much everything better in the half court except for Jimmer's legendary long range shooting. McCollum projects out as a much better defender and rebounder, and also better at drawing contact and getting to the line.

 

[Gary]

With whom? Everybody on that team couldn't make a dribble without turning the ball over. They had only 1.5 good shooters to space for Calipari's dribble-drive. Calipari moved Evans to the lead guard during the season after a few losses. Tigers went without them the rest of the way until OT loss to higher seeded Mizzou in the Tourney.

Loaded in terms of a good college team. Most players are in Europe or the NBADL. Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier were the two others that made names for themselves in the college game. I really did like Antonio Anderson. He's lacking in athleticism, and 3pt shooting though, which are two main things you want your SFs to be in todays NBA.

 

[funkykingston]

The way I look at it is McCollum is most similar to Jimmer overall, and if the Kings drafted McC they'd be basically trying to cover a mistake with a guy who could be what they thought Jimmer would be.

McCollum has a much better PnR game than Jimmer, and pretty much everything better in the half court except for Jimmer's legendary long range shooting. McCollum projects out as a much better defender and rebounder, and also better at drawing contact and getting to the line.

He's definitely more similar to Jimmer than Thornton or Douglas. Better height/length than Fredette and much better ballhandling. But it's definitely the same idea - put a combo guard who can shoot next to Tyreke so they can share ballhandling duties and keep/punish defenders from sagging off to help against Evans drives to the hoop.

 

[Darth Divac]

McCollum is more of a Jimmer/Reke mix. Size, shooting, and left-side driving ability (lol) of Jimmer, with athleticism, ballhandling and finishing ability like Reke. He's is someone who I would charish on this team. He's a scorer, but an unselfish one. He won't stop the offense to get himself a shot. He is competent at the line. He's a great ballhandler and PnR player. And he can create shots for his teammates WAY better than his 2.7 APG might indicate.

 

[Hoovtrain]

The 2 problems with that analogy are that (1) Evans is better than Stephenson and Cousins is much better than West and (2) it means we still need a Paul George and Roy Hibbert.

Then let's trade for Granger (if his knees check out) and then sign Daley

 

[Chupacabra]

I'm not sure why there's a comparison Being made between McCollum and Jimmer. I see McCollum highlights and the first player I think of is Brandon Roy. I have to admit that in the last 2 years I've watched almost zero college ball. However from what I've seen in the highlights HOLY MOSES this guy can play. I'm not sure why this guy isn't expected to be drafted higher. Is it because he played in the patriot league? I want him.

 

[Gilles]

It's all relative. He might remind of Roy - personally I don't see it, but if he does, he's small Roy in slow motion.

Roy is so smooth and he gets to places at will. He has to try a second time in a few instances, but he still gets where he wants.
Compare it to this clip

Most times defender forces McCollum to settle for a jumpshot.

 

[KingsFanGER]

While Quickness and Athleticism truly helps a lot, there are ways to contribute without being a great athlete. Andre Miller or Greivis Vasquez aren't quick at all, but still contributed on a solid NBA level this season, cause they are crafty, smart and know their strengths and weaknesses. Jimmer isn't limited offensively by his lack of quickness but mainly by his poor ballhandling.
The footage i m able to watch of McCollum leads me to the conclusion, that he is a pretty good ballhandler, can beat his defender of the dribble, has an eye for the situation and plays the passing lanes pretty well. I think he can be a good addition to the Kings backcourt.