Sources: C.J. McCollum agrees to $106M max extension with Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum has reached agreement on a four-year, $106 million maximum contract extension, league sources told The Vertical.
The deal includes no player option, and no trade kicker, league sources said.
McCollum, 24, the 2015-16 NBA Most Improved Player, made dramatic strides in his third NBA season, and the Blazers have fully solidified their backcourt with All-Star Damian Lillard and third guard Allen Crabbe also on long-term extensions.
Blazers general manager Neil Olshey and McCollum’s agent, Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports, negotiated the deal over the past two weeks, league sources said.
McCollum clearly would’ve been destined for a maximum offer sheet as a restricted free agent in the summer of 2017, and the Blazers eliminated the possibility of a “poison pill” offer sheet that could’ve allowed McCollum into unrestricted free agency with a player option on the third year of his deal.
McCollum’s extension will start in the 2017-18 season, and he will earn $3.2 million in 2016-17, the last year of his current rookie contract. McCollum will earn approximately $23.9 million, $25.7 million, $27.5 million and $29.3 million over the course of the four-year deal – based upon the projected $102 million salary cap next year.
Portland drafted McCollum out of Lehigh with the No. 10 pick in the 2013 NBA draft, and the commitment of the contract comes after a rookie season in which McCollum had been limited to 38 games because of a broken foot, and a second season in which he averaged 15.7 regular-season minutes in 2014-15.
McCollum started his breakout in the 2015 playoffs – averaging 17 points – and carried that momentum into a stellar 2015-16 season when he averaged 20.8 points and 4.3 assists. McCollum is part of a core of players drafted into the Blazers organization under Olshey – and developed under coach Terry Stotts – that has signed long-term extensions in the past two years.
Lillard (five years, $139 million), Crabbe (four years, $75 million) and Meyers Leonard (four years, $41 million) are among Portland draft picks secured for the long term.
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