CJ McCollum has become one of the NBA's best midrange shooters.

"It's been a part of my game for life. It's tougher to finish in the lane so you've got to find different areas to score efficiently and the mid-range contested shot is a shot a lot of teams will live with," McCollum says. "And it's a shot I'm willing to live with as well just because I've gotten so many shots at it and I'm comfortable with it."

McCollum is shooting 46.6 percent on mid-range shots season, according to NBA.com. He's attempted the 12th most mid-range shots in the league and has the highest field goal percentage of anyone in the NBA who has taken at least 250 such shots. 

After LaMarcus Aldridge left for the San Antonio Spurs in free agency, the Portland Trail Blazers used their cap space on several younger free agents who they perceived as still possessing upside.

A big part of how the Blazers have been successful under Neil Olshey and Terry Stotts has been player development.

"When LaMarcus made his decision, we shifted gears as quickly as possible," said Olshey. "And that's how we were able to build the infrastructure of even adding more younger guys around the same career arc as Damian Lillard. A lot of those guys have out-produced their contract, a lot of them are working to still do that. The confidence we have in our coaches, our system, our culture will put them in a position to maybe be more successful than they were in their previous stops is what will help us eventually optimize their asset value, whether it's with us or someone else."

Ed Davis and Al-Farouq Aminu were signed in free agency, while the Blazers traded for Noah Vonleh, Maurice Harkless, Gerald Henderson and Mason Plumlee.

C.J. McCollum was unable to play in Wednesday's game for the Portland Trail Blazers against the Los Angeles Clippers due to a clerical error.

The Blazers accidentally submitted a roster with McCollum on the inactive list instead of teammate Luis Montero, whose name appears next to McCollum's alphabetically on the sheet teams must submit before the game.

Had the Blazers attempted to play McCollum, they would have been assessed a technical foul and he would not have been allowed to play. In 2007, the then-Charlotte Bobcats were penalized for playing Jeff McInnis, who was ineligible. The same happened to the Washington Wizards in 2010, when they played Roger Mason.