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Collins didn’t finish the sentence.... I asked him what the vibe was around this team when he talked to other players around the league and if he felt like the Hawks had some respect now.

Collins said in his first and second seasons the reactions would normally be, “Yeah, you’re cool and this guy is all right, but y’all are kinda ….....“Trash” is likely what Collins was going to say. The conversations this summer have been much different. He feels awareness that he hadn’t felt in his first two season. “Now when I’m talking and bring up myself and Trae (Young) — I don’t see them getting scared, but I feel the respect now,” Collins said at the team’s media day Monday. “They see the young guys coming up. We’re not going to lie down to anyone......They feel like we’re rising stars in the league, and we’re coming.”

I asked Young the same question.

“You definitely hear the excitement,” Young said. “We are one of the toughest teams to guard in the NBA. It’s really cool hearing from guys you look up to and respect say that about your team. 

Hunter:  Lots of eyes are going to be on De’Andre Hunter this season........“I call him — and not to hype him — but I call him ‘Baby Kawhi,'” Len said. “He’s got a strong body and can play defense. He’s also really poised on offense.  What the players have noticed in Hunter so far in the pick-up runs they’ve put together so far this summer is his defense has been as good as advertised.

He’s also excited to show offensive versatility to the public this season. He’s aware that people believe he’s limited on that end.

Collins mentioned to me how he felt like last year’s team “actually wanted to hang out with each other,” unlike his rookie season.That camaraderie only has gotten stronger this summer. I feel like we have a group of guys who want to be in the locker room with each other and want to play with each other and want to spend time with each other,” Collins said. “I feel like you are going to see that translate on the court. If guys want to play with each other and have each other’s back, it makes life out here so much easier.”

• Bruno Fernando said progress with his jump shot is coming along nicely with the help of the coaching staff. The staff has gotten on him a couple of times this summer when the team has played pick-up basketball because Fernando has passed on open shots.

• Huerter said the two biggest things he worked on this offseason were getting stronger in the weight room and finishing at the rim. He feels like he has the confidence and mindset now to make that a strength of his game this season.

• Young acknowledged that he needs to get better on defense. He feels like his effort was there (lots of times it wasn’t), but understanding concepts more is the area he feels like he needs to improve on.

Per Collins: Tony (Ressler) is putting is heart and soul into making the Hawks the future franchise of this city. I feel like he’s shown it with this building right here (Emory Sports Medicine Complex) and the arena and what he’s doing down there. I feel like it’s our job to get it done on the court to bring those fans out, and I feel like we have. I feel like when we start winning, the fans will be right where they need to be. It’s a process. It takes time. I know we have to prove it to them first.”