----- Cole Anthony finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists and Chuma Okeke scored 18 points as the Orlando Magic drop the Portland Trail Blazers 113-95 Tuesday night at Moda Center.
The end of an Era!
For the first time since 2013, the Portland Trail Blazers played a basketball game without CJ McCollum being a member of the team.
Earlier in the day, the Trail Blazers traded CJ McCollum, Larry Nantz Jr., and Tony Snell to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Didi Louzada, 2022 protected first-round pick, two second-round picks.
Portland Interim General Manager Joe Cronin has taken an aggressive approach to reshape the team around Damian Lillard by trading McCollum, Norman Powell, Robert Covington and others.
The Blazers are looking to add as much flexibility for the upcoming Summer to add top-level talent around Lillard as he returns healthy from his abdomen procedure.
McCollum exits Portland as one of the best and possibly underappreciated players in franchise history. He averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds this season.
With few players available with experience, the Blazers struggled to find shots and get stops against the Magic.
Anfernee Simons led Portland (21-34) with 19 points and five assists and Greg Brown added 15 points and eight rebounds. Jusuf Nurkic recorded a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds but connected on just 4-of-16 from the field.
The Blazers missed 15 of their last 17 shots and were outscored 30-16 in the fourth quarter. Simons was the only Blazers' player to make a field goal in the fourth.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers play the second of a back-to-back tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Lakers at Moda Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's Take- The more losses, the better. All eyes on Jabari Smith now! #TankWithUs