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McCollum agrees to 4-year extension with Blazers

By ANNE M. PETERSON, Associated Press
Published: July 25, 2016, 3:08pm

PORTLAND — CJ McCollum agreed to a four-year, $106 million contract extension with the Portland Trail Blazers, a person familiar with the deal said.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal hadn’t been announced. It was first reported by Yahoo Sports.

McCollum was voted the NBA’s Most Improved Player after averaging 20.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the regular season. He raised his scoring average by more than 14 points over the previous season.

As the 10th overall draft pick in 2013, McCollum bided his time on the bench his first two seasons. The 24-year-old guard became a starter in the backcourt with Damian Lillard last season after four of the team’s starters left in the offseason.

With one of the youngest rosters in the league (24.6 years), the Blazers were considered a team that was rebuilding. But they overachieved to earn the fifth seed in the West and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. McCollum averaged 20.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the postseason.

His 14-point improvement was the most since Tony Campbell improved from an average of 6.2 points to 23.2 points with Minnesota from the 1988-89 to 1989-90 seasons.

McCollum also finished the regular season with 197 3-pointers to rank ninth in the league and fourth most for the Blazers in one season. He scored in double figures in 79 games.

McCollum’s extension comes in a busy offseason for the Blazers. This month they re-signed restricted free agents Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard.

Portland also signed free-agent forward Festus Ezeli and acquired guard Shabazz Napier in a trade with the Orlando Magic for cash. Portland also signed forward Jake Layman, acquired in a draft-day trade, as well as free-agent wing Evan Turner.

In another move Monday, Portland signed free-agent guard Tim Quarterman. Undrafted out of LSU, Quarterman averaged 11.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists as a junior for the Tigers last season.

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