C.J. McCollum Has Been the Biggest Surprise of the NBA Season

When looking through the top 20 scorers in the NBA this season, you'll find 19 names most basketball fans likely would have expected to see coming into the year.

The one player who stands out from the crowd, though, is the Portland Trail Blazers' C.J. McCollum. Coming into the 2015-16 campaign, McCollum had averaged under seven points per game while only seeing the court as a reserve three-point specialist during his first two years in the NBA.

In McCollum's third season in the league, the former Lehigh Mountain Hawk is averaging 20.8 points per game to go along with 4.4 assists and 3.6 rebounds.

He has surpassed the 30-point mark on three occasions this year and has hit at least one three-pointer in all but two of his 45 games.

McCollum's 39.3 percent mark from three-point range ranks in the top 25 of the league, and it only figures to improve as his career goes on.

The third-year guard has also showcased his impressive ball-handling on several occasions, which has left defenders looking silly all year.

"

C.J. McCollum, everybody! RT @bballbreakdown: https://t.co/GutNTsF8yf

— ThatNBALotteryPick (@ThatNBAPick) January 24, 2016"

Coming into the season, Portland's loss of four starters from last year's 51-31 squad appeared to spell doom for the defending Northwest Division champs.

It was believed that Damian Lillard would have to single-handedly carry the Trail Blazers if they were going to make any sort of noise in the Western Conference.

However, McCollum's development into an elite scorer has taken Portland from a potential lottery team into a legitimate playoff contender.

Now the Trail Blazers feature one of the deadliest backcourts in the entire league on a nightly basis, unless of course they accidentally list one of their star guards as inactive before the game.

Only the duos of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook along with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have outscored the Lillard-McCollum tandem on the season.

Westbrook/Durant (OKC)	51.2
Curry/Thompson (GSW)	50.6
Lillard/McCollum (POR)	45.1

While expectations weren't high at the start of the season, Portland now has a solid, young nucleus of talent that's built to win in the near future.

At 21-26 and having won six of its past eight games, Portland could be poised to sneak into the Western Conference playoffs this year as the eighth seed, where it currently sits.

A first-round matchup with either Golden State or San Antonio isn't an ideal situation for the young Blazers, but it would serve as an important measuring point to see what changes need to be made outside of the backcourt going forward.

Lillard was believed to be the only "sure thing" when Portland's season began, but it now appears his teammate has just as much potential to develop into a consistent scoring threat.

McCollum has quietly developed into one of the best young shooting guards in the league, and at just 24-years-old, he has the potential to become an elite scorer for years to come.

Portland is in a unique situation with two of the league's best guards under control for at least one more season, so the future is certainly bright for the Blazers.

One thing is certain, McCollum won't be catching any opponents off guard anymore, as he figures to continue improving his game every time he takes the court.

If McCollum is able to continue enhancing his game to become an even more balanced player, Portland could be poised to once again become one of the West's elite teams in the near future.