Toronto Raptors: Where do Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry rank as a duo?

9. Damian Lillard & CJ McCollum

For the past few years, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have been one of the best backcourts in the NBA. While that hasn’t equated to consistent postseason success, it does mean that they are still one of the league’s best duos.

Last season just happened to be the best season in the Lillard/McCollum era as the Portland Trail Blazers advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 1999/00 season. They were eventually dumped out of the WCF by the Golden State Warriors in comfortable fashion, but the Blazers had a tough stretch to get there in the first place.

After Jusuf Nurkic’s devastating leg break towards the end of the season, Lillard and McCollum once again took on the lion share of the work as the Blazers dispatched the Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder en route to the Conference Finals. Both are great offensive players who can stretch the court almost as good as the Splash Brothers – just think of Lillard’s 37-foot dagger to kill off the Thunder in the first round of last season’s playoffs.

The Blazers are often one of the teams who are viewed as a potential candidate to trade away one of their stars, but with CJ McCollum entering the penultimate year of his rookie extension, Portland might be looking to run it back with their dynamic backcourt once more.