Portland Trail Blazers fans now have 100 million reasons to be excited about the future as star player CJ McCollum signed a three-year contract extension. Portland is going all-in on their backcourt for the long term, as co-star Damian Lillard also agreed to a contract extension earlier this summer worth $198 million. The “Rip City” guards will now be together for the foreseeable future.
CJ McCollum Inks Contract Extension with Portland Trail Blazers
McCollum was set to hit free agency in the summer of 2021. However, his new deal with the Trail Blazers will keep him locked up through the summer of 2025. McCollum currently has two years left on his current contract, which will pay him over 27 million in 2019 and just over 29 million in the 2020 season.
In the 2021 season, McCollum will start his new contract at a base salary of nearly $31 million that will increase to $33 million in 2022 and almost $36 million in the 2024 season. It is no coincidence that McCollum’s contract extension will start the same summer as Lillard’s. The two all-star guards have been together for more than half a decade.
Portland went on a fantastic run in the 2019 NBA playoffs as the Trail Blazers knocked out the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round in four games before moving on to topple the second-place Denver Nuggets in the semi-finals. They ultimately lost in the Conference Finals at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. McCollum averaged nearly 40 minutes per game and almost 25 points a game throughout the playoffs. In their 2019 playoff run, the dynamic duo has proven why they are one of the most lethal backcourts in the NBA.
McCollum will be turning 28 years old right before the start of the season. McCollum is right in the middle of his prime and will once again be a pivotal contributor to the Trailblazer’s success. An attempt at another championship run seems plausible from Portland in 2019-2020 and beyond.
