The continued evolution of John Collins (Part 1)

[Jamaaliver]

One of the top draftees from this year's draft class stated he has modeled his game after Collins varied offensive game. Helps to put into perspective how good he's become.

I've also had the thought that Keegan could be a better scoring, less athletic version of John Collins in the league.



Are there any players in the league who you think your game might resemble?

One guy that I’ve watched a lot is John Collins. Early on in his career, he filled a role. He’s expanded in that role over the past few years. He is a guy who hustles every which way. He does the little things but can also be the guy for them in certain instances and certain games as well. He’s a guy who I can emulate. He’s carved out a role for himself and it’s gone well.

USA Today

[Jamaaliver]

Every NBA Team's Most Underrated Player

Atlanta Hawks: John Collins



It feels like John Collins shouldn't qualify for this exercise. After all, he's a regular on highlight reels, his stats sit just a tier or two beneath stardom and his contract is worth a whopping $125 million.

How can a player like that be underrated? Well, for reasons known only to the Hawks, they've decided to buy him a permanent residence on the trade rumor mill. And, for even more confusing reasons, other clubs aren't racing to pry the productive power forward out of Atlanta.

It's bizarre, and that's with the acknowledgment that he isn't the most impactful defender or capable shot-creator. What he is, though, is basically a walking double-double who's also good for a block and a three-ball per game. There aren't a ton of players around bringing all that to the table, let alone pairing the production with a tidy 55.9/37.6/77.9 career shooting slash.

Bleacher Report

[Jamaaliver]

Ranking: The Top 25 power forwards for the 2022-23 season



13. John Collins (Atlanta)

Although it appears John Collins may have tapped out his potential already considering his static level of production and impact over the past few seasons, that doesn’t mean he’s not a very solid starting-level power forward, one fit for the modern game.

For starters, Collins boasts one elite skill set, his finishing out of the pick-and-roll, an important trait for the bigs of today, as elite roll men open up space for others and grant shooting opportunities to the guards running those sets. In 2021-22, Collins scored 1.44 PPP as the pick-and-roll roll man, placing him in the NBA’s 95th percentile. It was also the best mark in the league among players with at least 100 such opportunities.

On top of that, Collins is also a solid outside shooter, hitting 38.8 percent of his threes over the past three seasons combined, a healthy enough mark to require a defense’s attention.

So although his raw averages from last season – 16.2 points and 7.8 rebounds – don’t jump off the page, Collins is still one of the league’s steadier starting power forwards, at least on the offensive end.

His defense is another story, but with Clint Capela manning the paint and Dejounte Murray now around to suffocate opposing ball-handlers, that deficiency can be somewhat masked in 2022-23. The Atlanta Hawks will at least be hoping so.

Hoopshype

[Jamaaliver]

The Atlanta Hawks Need To Empower John Collins



The Atlanta Hawks have long been in the rumor mill about moving away from John Collins, one of the league's most talented offensive forwards, something that's yet been done, but have seemingly been on the cusp of happening several times over.

Over the summer, the Hawks acquired All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, who will now share the backcourt with fellow All-Star Trae Young. For a player like Collins, who isn't one to create his own shot, but fares well when set up, he now stands a great chance at becoming Atlanta's most essential end-target. While Young, a known producer of points, is still likely to lead the team in scoring, the threat of Collins wrecking havoc off the attention defenses will give to Young and Murray is frankly intoxicating.

Collins, who has connected on 55.9% of his shots for his career, including 37.6% from behind the three-point line, is bound to maintain, or even increase, his efficiency as he now has two elite playmakers to find him. This further underlines the need of actually making more use of the 24-year-old, and to carve out a proper role for him in the offense...recent history suggests the Hawks haven't prioritized him the way they should. This is their chance to rectify that situation and once and for all cement Collins as a huge piece of their identity, and their plans, going forward.

Teams should have interest

Spoiler:

If the Hawks once again fail to make proper use of Collins, teams carrying elite playmakers, like Dallas and Denver, should be all over looking into ways of how to provide the forward with a new home, where they can empower him to return to 2019-2010 standards, where he averaged over 21 points and 10 rebounds per game.

As the salary cap increases - a trend that is likely to continue - it's going to easier for teams to find a way to add a $25 million-per-year player. And, should Atlanta not have used him enough, teams might be able to negotiate a favorable deal, based on Collins' lack of numbers.

Obviously, that would be a mistake on behalf of Atlanta. Instead, the organization needs to empower the forward before someone else does. It's not just the right thing to do for a player that talented, it should also genuinely help the Hawks become less reliable on Young, and make their offense one of the most potent in the NBA.

It's time to flip the narrative, and it starts now with committing to Collins.

Forbes.com

[raleigh]

For a player like Collins, who isn't one to create his own shot

making more use of the 24-year-old, and to carve out a proper role for him in the offense

Hmm. I wonder if Forbes will hire me to write about the NBA. Doesn't sound like too much work involved.

[Jamaaliver]

The JC Kid has been hyper efficient this preseason. We gotta get dude more involved offensively.

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[HMFFL]

Trae needs to be held accountable more this season if the locker room chemistry is bad and if our front court doesn't receive the ball. They need more field goal attempts.

It gets old seeing people blame Coach and everybody but Trae.

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[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

A few guys here need to fill this form out...I am one of them.

[Jamaaliver]

Tweet of the day.

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[Jamaaliver]

JC showed the two young PFs from this draft class that they are not yet ready for grown man strength.

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[CP War Hawks]

JC has been great, hopefully he gets his 1st AS nod. However, he's been matched up with two rooks playing their 1st and 2nd ever games respectively.

With that, if he can keep up this level vs. the teams on our tier with good forwards IE Cavs, Raps, etc. he can get all his flowers no doubt.

[Jamaaliver]

It's been a long time since I was this impressed with a player's devotion to continued improvement. John Collins is a legitimate 2-way player. I always appreciated how he's repped the city and franchise. His play on the court this year makes him almost untouchable in my book.

He's been phenomenal this season.

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[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

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[CP War Hawks]

JC has been great, hopefully he gets his 1st AS nod. However, he's been matched up with two rooks playing their 1st and 2nd ever games respectively.

With that, if he can keep up this level vs. the teams on our tier with good forwards IE Cavs, Raps, etc. he can get all his flowers no doubt.

I'm afraid I hit this on the head so far, he needs to pick it up asap. If you expunge his 1st two games vs talented but ultra green rooks, his numbers are horrific across the board the past 11 games.

10.5 ppg
7.5 rpg
45.5% fg
13% 3fg

[Jamaaliver]

JC has been great, hopefully he gets his 1st AS nod. However, he's been matched up with two rooks playing their 1st and 2nd ever games respectively.

With that, if he can keep up this level vs. the teams on our tier with good forwards IE Cavs, Raps, etc. he can get all his flowers no doubt.

I'm afraid I hit this on the head so far, he needs to pick it up asap. If you expunge his 1st two games vs talented but ultra green rooks, his numbers are horrific across the board the past 11 games.

10.5 ppg
7.5 rpg
45.5% fg
13% 3fg

IDK man. I think you might be placing blame on the wrong player. JC was avg 18+ ppg on 12 FG attempts in the first week. Since then, his scoring has dropped because his FG attempts have been chopped down to 8 shots per game. (Collins Game Log)

8 shots per game is ridiculously low for what is essentially the 3rd option on a playoff team.

The guards have stopped feeding him easy buckets in transition, bunnies in the pick and roll and wide open three point shots in the corners.

My take: Collins' struggles, just like Hunter's, are due to poor execution from the PGs. And from a mediocre offensive attack that has de-emphasized all of our forwards from the offense.

[D21]

JC has been great, hopefully he gets his 1st AS nod. However, he's been matched up with two rooks playing their 1st and 2nd ever games respectively.

With that, if he can keep up this level vs. the teams on our tier with good forwards IE Cavs, Raps, etc. he can get all his flowers no doubt.

I'm afraid I hit this on the head so far, he needs to pick it up asap. If you expunge his 1st two games vs talented but ultra green rooks, his numbers are horrific across the board the past 11 games.

10.5 ppg
7.5 rpg
45.5% fg
13% 3fg

IDK man. I think you might be placing blame on the wrong player. JC was avg 18+ ppg on 12 FG attempts in the first week. Since then, his scoring has dropped because his FG attempts have been chopped down to 8 shots per game. (Collins Game Log)

8 shots per game is ridiculously low for what is essentially the 3rd option on a playoff team.

The guards have stopped feeding him easy buckets in transition, bunnies in the pick and roll and wide open three point shots in the corners.

My take: Collins' struggles, just like Hunter's, are due to poor execution from the PGs. And from a mediocre offensive attack that has de-emphasized all of our forwards from the offense.

It might not be 100% because of that, but it's certainly the main reason.
And that's why I was a bit afraid if they way Nate would play Trae and DJ, coming both from an All-Star selection, I was sure he would let them be our 2 weapons, or tell them to be

I said that if the scoring is based only on these two, this team will struggle, and it's a bit what we see now.
It works against some teams, and doesn't against other.
This is a stupid way of coaching.