Report: CJ McCollum, Aaron Gordon Trade Hasn't Been Discussed in 'Serious Way'
Aaron Gordon has been the subject of trade speculation for a long time, but the Orlando Magic don't appear to be dangling him in a potential deal for CJ McCollum.
Per ESPN's Zach Lowe, a Gordon-for-McCollum trade "has never been discussed in any serious way" between the Magic and Portland Trail Blazers.
Talk of a swap between the Magic and Blazers involving Gordon and McCollum has come up in online speculation more than anywhere else.
The Ringer's Jonathan Tjarks proposed the idea in January 2019 to satisfy Orlando's need for a dynamic scoring guard who can run the offense and Portland's desire for a pick-and-roll partner to put alongside Damian Lillard.
In August, Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported there is "a little smoke" on the Golden State Warriors and Gordon front. The Warriors have a $17.2 million trade exception, which is in line with Gordon's $18.1 million salary in 2020-21.
It seems the Blazers wouldn't need to break up their roster right now. Their roster was decimated by injuries early last season, which contributed to their slow start. Jusuf Nurkic only played in eight games after suffering a compound fracture in his left leg in March 2019.
Despite those issues, Portland made the playoffs thanks to a 6-2 record during the eight seeding games and defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in game for the No. 8 seed.
The Magic were a disappointment with a 33-40 record after winning the Southeast Division in 2018-19, but they still made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.
