CJ McCollum is staying in Atlanta.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania,
The veteran guard agreed to a one-year, $21 million contract extension with the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. It ends any uncertainty about his future as he remains a cornerstone after being one of the team’s most important late-season contributors.
The deal reportedly includes a trade kicker, per Charania.
The deal comes after McCollum played a vital role in Atlanta’s surprising surge following his midseason arrival in the deal for Trae Young.
After being acquired by the Hawks from the Washington Wizards, the 34-year-old quickly became a stabilizing force on a mostly young roster.
Atlanta caught fire down the stretch, finishing the regular season on a remarkable 19-4 run that vaulted the team into the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, evolving from a fringe postseason possibility into one of the hottest teams in the league.
McCollum’s presence had a lot to do with that.
The soon-to-be 14-year veteran often guided the offense with his on-ball creativity, perimeter shooting and late-game shot creation, all trademarks of his entire NBA tenure.
CJ McCollum was one of the Hawks’ best players after being traded to the roster last season. Getty Images
In 41 regular-season games with Atlanta, including 25 starts, McCollum averaged 18.7 points per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the floor and 35.7 percent from behind the arc.
His impact became even more apparent during the playoffs.
Although Atlanta ultimately fell to the eventual champion Knicks 4-2 in the first round, McCollum repeatedly gave New York problems throughout the series, primarily in the first three games as the Hawks built a 2-1 lead.
He engineered multiple clutch performances, including a 32-point outing in Game 2 when he scored six points in the final minutes and hit the go-ahead basket with 33.5 seconds remaining to steal a victory at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks led by 12 in the fourth quarter before the Hawks chipped away at the lead.
McCollum added another 23 points in a Game 3 victory, in which Atlanta staved off a late Knicks rally to win 109-108.
McCollum, who turns 35 in September, has averaged 19.5 points per game for his career and has built a reputation as one of the best guards in recent memory to never make an All-Star team.
Since entering the NBA as the 10th overall pick in the 2013 draft, McCollum has established himself as one of the league’s most consistent scoring guards.
He won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award in 2016 and has averaged nearly 20 points per game across a career that has included stops with the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Wizards and Hawks.
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