The Portland Trail Blazers are trading guard CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans for multiple players and draft compensation, multiple outlets reported Tuesday.
Guards Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tomas Satoransky and Didi Louzada will join the Trail Blazers in exchange for McCollum, who is in his ninth season with Portland.
Portland will also receive a protected 2022 first-round pick and two second-round picks from New Orleans, while the Pelicans will receive forwards Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell along with McCollum.
McCollum, 30, is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 36 starts in 2021-22. He missed 18 games earlier this season with a collapsed right lung sustained in a Dec. 4 loss to the Boston Celtics.
McCollum, the 10th overall pick in 2013 and the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2015-16, owns career averages of 19.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 564 games (467 starts). He ranks second in Blazers history with 1,297 career 3-pointers, trailing longtime backcourt partner Damian Lillard (2,143) and is fifth with 10,710 career points.
Portland made the playoffs in each of McCollum’s first eight seasons but enters Tuesday night’s game vs. Orlando in 11th place in the West with a 21-33 record, a half-game behind the Pelicans (21-32) for a play-in spot.
Hart, 26, is in his third season with New Orleans after spending his first two NBA campaigns with the Los Angeles Lakers. He is averaging 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 41 games (40 starts) this season.
Alexander-Walker, 23, is averaging 12.8 points, 3.3 boards and 2.8 assists through 50 games (19 starts) in his third season with the Pelicans.
Satoransky, 30, is contributing 2.8 points, 2.4 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 32 games (three starts) in his first season with New Orleans.
Louzada, 23, is sidelined with a torn meniscus in his left knee. He played in five games over the past two seasons, contributing a total of eight points, five assists and four rebounds.
Nance, 29, is averaging 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds in 37 games (11 starts) in his first season with Portland. The seven-year veteran has missed the past 17 games due to a knee injury.
Snell, 30, is also in his first season with the Blazers, averaging 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 38 games (10 starts).
