Coming off a 44-win Cinderella season that ended with a thrilling second-round slugfest against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, the Portland Trail Blazers haven’t played like the team many thought they’d be.

For the right to become a “Welcome to the Playoffs!” first-round doormat against an even better Warriors squad, they’re currently in ninth place, one game behind the Denver Nuggets, with the league’s 27th defense and a negative point differential.

There’s no need to relitigate what led to this point, or how Portland’s high expectations steered them into a polarizing free agency period, but, needless to say, the 16-17 season has been rocky.

At the center of it all sit Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, two exceedingly gifted scorers who both deserved All-Star consideration even though neither made the team. Lillard and McCollum reasons 1A and 1B why this franchise shouldn’t panic, but their flaws inflame the Blazers’ fundamental weaknesses, creating understandable long-term question marks regarding their ability to coexist.

As one of the most explosive backcourts in the league, Lillard and McCollum (who rank 15th and 17th in Offensive Real Plus-Minus, respectively) draw optimism, but if Portland’s primary goal is to compete for a championship during their primes, a few big-picture questions must be posed.

Can you win a title with two terrible defenders in the backcourt? McCollum comes in at 404 in Defensive Real Plus-Minus while Lillard ranks 424th (out of 440 players). If not, what changes need to be made? If one has to go—both are signed to max contracts through 2021—who should it be?

Before we go any further, it’s only fair to note that Portland’s most frequently used lineup (Lillard, McCollum, Al-Farouq Aminu, Moe Harkless, and Mason Plumlee) has allowed just 103.8 points per 100 possessions in 247 minutes. That’s a versatile, athletic group that defends at a top-five rate despite glaring shortcomings from its backcourt. And in the 393 minutes Lillard, McCollum and Aminu have shared the floor, Portland’s defense has been even tougher, allowing only 101.7 points per 100 possessions. (All things considered, Aminu is a hugely valuable puzzle piece.)

But even though they’re surrounded by quality individual defenders and have the offensive skills to prop Portland’s offense up as a top-10 outfit, Lillard and McCollum, together, may sprout too many leaks through a four-round playoff run. To boot, Portland still has no anchor. They foul a ton, aren’t great on the defensive glass, and hardly ever force turnovers (which is largely due to their conservative scheme). Having two weak links at the top may outweigh every other fault.

Let’s take a look under the hood to try and answer those aforementioned questions.

We’ll begin with Lillard, the presumed franchise player who, after winning Rookie of the Year, making two All-NBA teams, securing a lucrative shoe deal, and embodying a slightly less dangerous version of Steph Curry, may no longer be a top-10 player at his own position.

Lillard is not good on defense. He doesn’t impact the point of attack, hardly ever turns his man or makes him work for space. Few guards in the league allow their opponent to have so much freedom coming off a high screen; guys are in rhythm, unhurried, and able to either pull up for a jumper or—thanks to Portland’s drop scheme—attack the screener’s man with a running head start. Opposing teams shoot 46.2 percent from the mid-range when Lillard is on the floor. This is why:

And that only accounts for when Lillard actually makes it over the screen. He dives under quite a bit, which invites inept shooters to fire one up. But most point guards—even those with low percentages—are plenty comfortable when no defender is even bothering to contest their shot.

Lillard crashes into screens and regularly fails to funnel his man where Portland’s defense wants him to go. He has more offensive responsibility than everyone on the team, including McCollum, but that doesn’t excuse his transformation into a pile of dry leaves on a windy day whenever he’s guarding a pick-and-roll.

Off the ball, Lillard gets back screened too often, sometimes pinching in too far for help and then never recovering back out. He cuts corners, and plays with zero confidence in his own ability to stick with a driving ball-handler—leading to short closeouts on legitimate outside threats.

The best solution is obvious: hide him on the opponent’s least threatening player. But team’s don’t hesitate to screen with Lillard’s man to force uncomfortable mismatches. The play is basically over after Portland switches.

Now, defense is very important, particularly when more than one starter has a target on his back. But the things Lillard does with the ball are invaluable to the point where it’s almost OK to turn your head and ignore the numerous blemishes you just read about.

Lillard’s skill-set is littered with twitchy jab steps, ball fakes and a step-back jumper that’s fast enough to make Nightcrawler blush. He’s currently averaging the most points and fewest minutes of his career, and is attacking the basket more than ever before. His free-throw rate is a career-high 37.7 percent, which helps offset his uncharacteristic ineffectiveness on pull-up threes (just 29 percent), while boosting his PER and True Shooting percentage to heights he’s never reached before.

He’s impossible to contain in space, loves to drive left, and doesn’t need a screen to get where he wants (which, this season, is the rim).

But does all this mean he’s a better player than McCollum? It’s tough to separate their value—when the duo splits up and only one is on the court, Portland’s offense crumbles. And McCollum’s defensive warts are just as unseemly as Lillard’s.

Here, the Trail Blazers want to ice the pick-and-roll by forcing Ramon Sessions towards the sideline and away from the middle, but McCollum is too low on the floor, which allows Charlotte’s backup point guard to weave his way towards the free-throw line and force all sorts of unwanted problems.

And here’s McCollum compounding his initial mistake by screwing up a switch after Nik Stauskas fools him on a basket cut.

But, like Lillard, few players in the entire NBA have been harder to stop when they have the ball. McCollum is averaging 23.5 points per game with a sizzling True Shooting percentage. He struggles to finish at the rim and doesn’t really get to the free-throw line, but that’s balanced out by his status as arguably the most accurate shooter in the entire league.

Of all players who launch at least four mid-range jumpers per game, nothing tops McCollum’s 50.2 percent. His assist percentage is nearly 10 points lower than Lillard’s, but McCollum doesn’t turn the ball over and is one of 11 players in NBA history to make at least 42 percent of his threes on over six attempts per game.

Still not impressed? The only guards in NBA history who jacked up at least 18 shots every night and still maintained a True Shooting percentage above 58.9 are Jerry West, George Gervin, Michael Jordan, Curry, James Harden, and Ray Allen. McCollum would join that list (along with Isaiah Thomas) if the season ended today. He’s an inferno.

While Lillard regularly films national commercials and has appeared in two All-Star games, McCollum—the reigning Most Improved Player—is ostensibly relegated to permanent right-hand man duty.

But McCollum’s continued growth has forced legitimacy into the discussion around who’s better, a meaningless question if not for Portland’s struggle. If it’s possible to keep them both and trade rotation pieces to try and snag a rim-protecting big or two-way wing who’s better than Harkless, Evan Turner, or Allen Crabbe, then go right on ahead. But it may eventually make sense to dangle both on the trade market to weigh who can bring back a more significant haul.

Would the Detroit Pistons fork over Andre Drummond for one of them? Could they work out a star for star trade with the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler—in which Portland forks over more than just one of their starting guards? How about the Philadelphia 76ers for Nerlens Noel and some future assets?

The Blazers shouldn’t feel like they’re in a rush to make anything happen, but they also don’t have much flexibility to surround these two with the type of players they need.