The Index · Live

CJ McCollumAtlanta Hawks · #3

Guard · 6'3", 190 lb · Canton, Ohio · Age 35 · 13th season

CJ McCollum is a veteran scoring guard for the Atlanta Hawks and one of the NBA's most respected professionals — a former NBPA president and ESPN analyst with a Lehigh journalism degree. Famous for Lehigh's 2012 upset of Duke, he was the 2016 Most Improved Player in Portland, later starred in New Orleans, and joined Atlanta in the 2026 Trae Young trade, providing 18.7 points a game and clutch playoff shot-making.

MVP race · #183Guard rank · #51Balladex Impact · 59
⚖ Quick compare
C
CJ McCollum
◆ Rated
Atlanta Hawks · #3 · Guard
CJ McCollum
Season avg18.8 pts · 3.5 reb · 3.6 ast · .454 fg
Career avg19.4 pts · 3.6 reb · 3.7 ast · .449 fg
Live win probabilityHawks 62%
Balladex model · projected 119–116 · 98.5 pace
Tonight's projectionmodel
20.4pts
3.8reb
4.3ast
62%win
Tonight's matchup · who he'll mainly guardhead-to-head
CJ McCollum
Atlanta Hawks · Guard
B-
vs
82
Derrick White
Boston Celtics · Strong defender
Category breakout
Head-to-head history
Home/away splits from recent games; live grades from the DNA model.
LADDER#183 in the Balladex MVP raceIMPACTBalladex Impact 59 — Solid starter tierINDEXCJ McCollum · Atlanta HawksLADDER#183 in the Balladex MVP raceIMPACTBalladex Impact 59 — Solid starter tierINDEXCJ McCollum · Atlanta Hawks
Scouting report

CJ McCollum — the report card

Read his whole game at a glance, then dive into any skill. Grades from the DNA model + real production.

C
Veteran Scoring Guard · Microwave · Impact 59
CJ McCollum is a veteran scoring guard for the Atlanta Hawks and one of the NBA's most respected professionals — a former NBPA president and ESPN anal
B-
Offense
F
Defense
C+
Feel / IQ
C
Playmaking
Average creator
tap for the data ↓
B+
Scoring
Excellent scorer
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F
Rebounding
Below average on the glass
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B-
3PT / spacing
Strong spacing
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D
Perimeter D
Below average on the perimeter
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F
Paint / rim D
Below average at the rim
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B
Clutch
Strong late
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C
Athleticism
Average tools
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C+
Basketball IQ
Reads the game
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C-
Durability
Availability
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Act II

Where CJ McCollum stands

Live ladders from the Balladex models, and what he's chasing. Rankings recompute nightly from real production, accolades, and search demand.

The laddersmodel · recomputes nightly
1
Nikola Jokić DEN
29%
2
Luka Doncic LAL
20%
3
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander OKC
12%
4
Giannis Antetokounmpo MIA
4%
5
Victor Wembanyama SAS
3%
6
Anthony Edwards MIN
2%
7
Tyrese Maxey PHI
2%
8
Jamal Murray DEN
2%
Balladex Consensus: #141 of 384 — a blend of the Impact index, current production, career résumé and live search demand. Recomputes as the data does.
Futures & chases
<1%MVP odds
59Impact index
135Star score
Career scoring average19.4 ppg
Seasons in the index13
Accolades on file1
1× Most Improved Player (2016)
Stat explorer

CJ McCollum — every number, three levels deep

Headline → metric → the raw history behind it. Real career data; tracking-only metrics labeled.

B+
Scoring
18.8 PPG
drill in ↓
C
Playmaking
3.6 APG
drill in ↓
F
Rebounding
3.5 RPG
drill in ↓
B-
Shooting
.393 3P%
drill in ↓
The engine

How the model sees CJ McCollum

Projection = per-minute rate × projected minutes. Rates are recency- and health-weighted, aged along a per-stat curve, and adjusted for live usage/role. No black box — every number shows its work.

Projected 2026-27  61% confidence
17.9
pts
15.0–20.8
3.2
reb
2.1–4.3
3.4
ast
2.4–4.4
29.8
min
proj
47
gp
health
.450
fg%
~base
.395
3p%
~base
Bands widen as confidence drops. Derived live from the real 13-season history below.
What moves the points line vs last season
Last season 18.8 → projected 17.9 PPG
Minutes / role
-0.7
Development (his trend)
+0.1
Age curve
-0.6
Live context
+0.4
Net vs last season-0.9 PPG
Everything it reads
📊
13 seasons of per-minute rates
every box line, minutes-normalized
real
Recency × games-played weight
recent, healthy seasons anchor the baseline
auto
📈
Weighted least-squares trend
his own trajectory, read season over season
+dev
🕰
Per-stat aging curves
age 35 — applied per stat
curve
🔌
Live role context
usage & role shifts fold in when the feed is present
+ctx
🏥
Durability signal
GP last 3: 66 / 56 / 35 → games & confidence
health
The real history it trains onsource: Basketball-Reference · verified

CJ McCollum career stats, season by season

Career stats by season
SeasonGPMINPTSREBASTFG%3P%
2013-143812.55.31.30.7.416.375
2014-156215.76.81.51.0.436.396
2015-168034.820.83.24.3.448.417
2016-178035.023.03.63.6.480.421
2017-188136.121.44.03.4.443.397
2018-197033.921.04.03.0.459.375
2019-207036.522.24.24.4.451.379
2020-214734.023.13.94.7.458.402
2021-223635.220.54.34.5.436.384
2022-237535.320.94.45.7.437.389
2023-246632.720.04.34.6.459.429
2024-255632.721.13.84.1.444.373
2025-263530.918.83.53.6.454.393
Career79632.019.43.63.7
Source: Basketball-Reference. Backtested against completed player-seasons in the index. The same engine powers Tonight's projection, EraLab, and the role simulator — one model, asked different questions. Illustrative.
Act III

The Lab

Every number, live and interactive. Real career data; models labeled.

Gold = MVP / Championship season · hover any bar. Real per-game data; per-36 & totals derived.
EraLab · the stat time machinenovel
Re-express a season in today's pace-and-space.
raw PPG
in 2026 pace
why
Scoring map · clickable zonesShotChart
Team-tinted. Modeled where tracking data is absent.
Role simulatorpowered by GM engine
Change the roster around him — his projection updates live.
Projected line shifts to — usage , assists rise as primary initiator. Title odds . Illustrative.
Context

Are the Atlanta Hawks built to win?

Team projection rolled up from the roster + last-season baselines — and what it means for his role.

49–33proj record
#6conf seed
+2.9net rtg
115.3off rtg
112.6def rtg
89%playoff odds
Roster delta · what changed
Switch-heavy — Switches 1–4 (or 1–5) to erase actions and keep bodies in front. Core trending improving. Defensive anchors: Dyson Daniels, Luguentz Dort.
How his role moves
Projected 49–33, 6th in the East. Real team projection from the roster + last-season baselines. His usage, minutes and creation load move with roster health.
Balladex Impact
59 of 99
Solid starter tier.
Rarity
◆ Rated
Collectible tier.
Résumé
1 accolades
1× Most Improved Player (2016)
Act IV

The Ballad of CJ McCollum

Birth to now — the making of a legend, narrated and scored.

Sep 19, 1991

The beginning

A cerebral veteran shot-maker — Lehigh's Duke-slayer, a former players'-union president, and Atlanta's late-game scorer.

Atlanta Hawks

Turning pro

Drafted 10th overall, 2013 as a Guard.

true

The small-school guard who slayed Duke, became Most Improved, and led a players' union — now a champion team's kind of veteran.

Chapter

A Canton, Ohio kid, McCollum earned a journalism degree at Lehigh and led the 15-seed Mountain Hawks past Duke in the 2012 NCAA Tournament before Portland took him 10th in 2013.

Chapter

He won 2016 Most Improved and formed an elite backcourt with Damian Lillard, then scored big in New Orleans.

Off the court

Measurables ESPN
Active
Height
6' 3"
Weight
190 lbs
College
Lehigh
Experience
13th Season
NBA debut
2013
Draft
10th overall, 2013
Born
Canton, Ohio
Age
35
Jersey
#3
Beyond the game

McCollum is one of the NBA's true renaissance professionals. A Lehigh journalism graduate, he hosts a podcast, holds an ESPN multiplatform analyst deal, and served as president of the National Basketball Players Association from 2021 to 2025 — a leadership role that shaped a generation of labor negotiations. He also runs the McCollum Heritage 91 wine label and has done extensive philanthropic work in wine-country and education spaces.

His basketball résumé is anchored by one of March Madness's iconic upsets — Lehigh over Duke in 2012 — and a decade of elite shot-making. Married to Elise, with a son, Jacobi, and a brother, Errick, who plays professionally overseas, McCollum is the archetype of the smart, steady veteran a young team adds for late-game scoring and locker-room stability.

The person

A cerebral, media-savvy veteran and elite shot-maker — the steady professional a young team leans on.

Three-level scorerCareer 19.5 points a game; 11 straight seasons with 150+ threes.
ClutchGame-winning fadeaway and a 32-point playoff game for Atlanta in 2026.
LeaderFormer NBPA president; ESPN analyst; journalism degree.
Verified profiles & sources
FAQ

CJ McCollum — frequently asked

The questions people ask most about CJ McCollum, answered.

How did CJ McCollum join the Hawks?
In the January 2026 trade that sent Trae Young away; he then agreed to a one-year, $21 million extension in June 2026.
What is CJ McCollum famous for in college?
Leading 15-seed Lehigh to a 2012 NCAA Tournament upset of 2-seed Duke; he also earned a journalism degree there.
Was CJ McCollum a players'-union leader?
Yes — he served as president of the National Basketball Players Association from 2021 to 2025.
CJ McCollum career stats & accolades are real, and team projections and recent-game home/away splits are computed from real production. DNA ratings, grades, tonight's projection, ladders, live win probability and simulator outputs are Balladex model output. Not affiliated with the NBA.
✦ Companion
Ask about CJ McCollum

Availability & durability

games played vs season length
Career availability
76%
13 seasons
Last 3 seasons
64%
89 games missed
Games missed
250
career, schedule-adj.
Durability
Injury-prone
declining
Availability by season
80
16-17
81
17-18
70
18-19
70
19-20
47
20-21
36
21-22
75
22-23
66
23-24
56
24-25
35
25-26

Injury-prone. Availability trend is declining64% of games over the last three seasons, low of 43% in 2025-26.

Availability = games played ÷ season length (schedule-adjusted for lockout and COVID seasons). A durability signal from real game data, not a medical assessment.

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