codydaze wrote:I'm really just not a fan of John Collins. I would be okay with trading for him but wouldn't be too inspired by it. In terms of most realistic trade candidates at this point, I'd probably rank my preferences:
1. Isaiah Stewart. I think has that dog mentality we need and can stretch the floor next to Sabonis. Very versatile and can play along any of our bigs.
2. Wendell Carter. Maybe not quite as versatile as Stew and more of a questionable fit with Sabonis but I've always really liked his game. Very solid defender and gives us a bit more size.
3. Cam Johnson/DFS. Dorian probably more realistic than Cam but both guys stretch the floor and give us a solid defender on the wing.
4. John Collins. Gives us athleticism and a guy that should be able to score the ball for us. Doesn't fix any defensive woes but hopefully another year of Mike Brown's system brings some improvement internally.
I think Collins is a better defender for what Sac needs than Barnes.
Just looking at the roster for next year, we have really beefed up our POA defense. Fox, Keon, Carter, Keegan are all really good perimeter defenders. With Keon over Huerter, we became a top 10 defense. I've never thought Davion was a good TEAM defender, he's fine man, but when he gets switched onto bigger guys hes useless. Carter won't have that same problem as it seems he can legit guard 1-3, and maybe even some smaller 4s, in that Holiday/White/Caruso/Bruce Brown mold.
Now back to Collins. He's averaged 8rbs per game his career, with some years as high as 10. He's averaged 1 block a game for his career with some as high as 1.6. This allows Sacramento to be very aggressive on the perimeter with our bull dogs, and then if Sabonis has to play out like he did a lot last year on switches, Collins is still there to help underneath.
To be fair I really like Stewart as well. I think there's room on the roster for both of them, which makes us a really big team overnight.
Start with your idea of Sasha/Huerter for Stewart
Then Davion/Barnes/Duarte for Collins.
Clear out the glut instantly
Bigs - Sabonis, Stewart, Lyles, Collins (3 bigs with good size who can spread the floor)
Wings - Keegan, Colby
Guards - Fox, Monk, Carter, Keon
You give Keon/Carter a lot of minutes at 3, basically playing small in the backcourt, but during those times you have 2 legit bigs up front instead of last year having Barnes at the 4 in some of those small ball lineups. I think it could work.