John Collins Edited: (Hawks Seek Lottery Pick For Collins)

[WuriderX]

Man is it me or is John Collins starting to look like a more athletic Karl Malone?


Edited by HMFFL:

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, "Atlanta has so far sought a high first-round, lottery-level pick" if they were to move John Collins. 

Nothing is imminent, to be clear. From what we can gather, the Hawks are doing their due diligence because of Collins' contract demands -- he turned down an extension for over $90M and the Hawks aren't comfortable offering him a max deal as Sam Amick of The Athletic reported last week. Collins' fantasy managers shouldn't panic, as his value would likely be safe in a trade. It could even trend up if he ends up with more center minutes, as his per-minute production spikes when he moves from the four to five. 

SOURCE: The Athletic

[King Ken]

lol, @jayu70

I think so. Not ever gonna have the strength of Karl but Karl will never have the agility or springs of Collins.

[Ice Trae]

I didn't get to watch Malone but from all the players i've watched, he really reminds me of Amare Stoudemire.

[King Ken]

I didn't get to watch Malone but from all the players i've watched, he really reminds me of Amare Stoudemire.

Amare was a much better offensive player skill wise. Amare issue was he wasn't that great off the ball IQ wise. He was tremendous on the ball. My God! John is more like Karl. Movement expert. Rebounding wizard. Just always moving.

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[Jamaaliver]

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Spoiler:

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Adding Consistent Range Is John Collins' Next Step to Stardom

A breakout 2018-19 campaign has Collins looking like a future All-Star. But if he's truly going to shine in today's NBA, adding consistent range to his skill set will be key.

Collins has become a double-double machine in his second year in the league, averaging 18.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game this season. While his 57.9 field-goal percentage entering Wednesday was good for ninth in the NBA, he is shooting just 33.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Three-point shooting has never been a major part of the 6'10", 235-pound forward's game prior to this season. He took just one attempt from distance in two seasons at Wake Forest, and he had just 47 attempts as a rookie a season ago.

He caught fire early against the Bulls, going off for 15 points in the first quarter. Per Fox Sports Southeast, that's the most the second-year forward has dropped in a single quarter to this point in his professional career. That outburst was aided by him draining a pair of three-pointers, and he added another one in the second quarter on his way to 22 first-half points.

He finished the night a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range.

Small sample size or not, Collins' perimeter shooting has improved with each passing month this season. He is now at 57.7 percent for January (11 games) after his latest outing.

Of course, a player of Collins' size needs to focus on owning the paint above all else. But as Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has shown, a big man being able to step out to the perimeter and knock down a triple on occasion can provide a major boost to the offense.

Bleacher Report

[Jamaaliver]

^While having a three point shot is useful for any player in today's game, I'm not in favor of Collins focusing too much time out on the perimeter. I'd prefer to see him extend his jumper out to 18 feet with a consistent mid-range game. And then refine his face up game to take larger/slower defenders off the dribble and punish close outs from the elbow.

Collins has the chance to be a punishing inside force and an elite offensive rebounder. I'm against any approach that takes him away from those strengths.

Spoiler:

Collins shot chart after scoring a career high against the Bulls:

[kg01]

One thing I love about JColl is, every once in a while, he'll take a guy on the block and put on a postgame showcase. I keep forgetting he was a beast on the block in college.

I thoroughly enjoyed lurking on the Bulls board last night for the Lauri v John talk.

As I said in the game thread, methinks John had a point to prove las' nite.

[Jamaaliver]

Our sole representative in the NBA's top 100 players?

Ranking NBA's Top 100 Players of 2018-19 Season so Far

49. John Collins -- Atlanta Hawks

Sample size almost displaced John Collins from the top 50. A left ankle injury kept him off the court until mid-November. But his return has unlocked a spunkier version of the Hawks.

Collins is the same spring-loaded pogo stick but with a deeper arsenal. Atlanta is asking him to do more with the ball, and although it'll be some time before he's a face-up nuisance, if he ever gets there, he looks at home dropping passes in motion and taking shots and dribbles from above the break.

Grooming him as a defensive linchpin will be tough—even more so if the Hawks don't see him surviving long stretches at the 5. But Collins' offensive tool belt, which includes semireliable shooting from the corner and an unyielding presence on the boards, is letting him hang with the league's new-age power forwards.

Bleacher Report

[High 5]

His touch around the basket is freaky and now he's shooting .375 from 3. He's shooting .454 since his ice cold start to the season. He still has a lot to work on, but he's way ahead of where anyone thought he'd be. I felt like his biggest fan last season (I know many of you were equally big fans) and I thought we'd have to wait until next season before we could really start talking about him as an All Star.

[benhillboy]

I feel sorry for fans outside of Atlanta who don’t get to see shawty because his style is so rare today. I hate to nitpick a guy with a TS% of .645 but he needs to make a considerable stride defensively next season. Instead of being well over a block and the plus box defender I expected, he’s well under both marks. I lazily blame everything on Taurean so hopefully an upgrade at the 3 will help Johnny out on that front lol.

Dedmon actually pulls his weight and a little of Johnny’s on defense. His DBPM and rating wouldn’t be +1.5 and 109 respectively if he weren’t. It may be a concerted effort by John and the staff to minimize fouls until he gets a better feel which I can understand.

[Jamaaliver]

His touch around the basket is freaky and now he's shooting .375 from 3. He's shooting .454 since his ice cold start to the season. He still has a lot to work on, but he's way ahead of where anyone thought he'd be. I felt like his biggest fan last season (I know many of you were equally big fans) and I thought we'd have to wait until next season before we could really start talking about him as an All Star.

I suspect his development has been greatly impacted by having Trae around for so many easy feeds.

It's our version of Matty Ice to Julio.

Spoiler:

[High 5]

His touch around the basket is freaky and now he's shooting .375 from 3. He's shooting .454 since his ice cold start to the season. He still has a lot to work on, but he's way ahead of where anyone thought he'd be. I felt like his biggest fan last season (I know many of you were equally big fans) and I thought we'd have to wait until next season before we could really start talking about him as an All Star.

I suspect his development has been greatly impacted by having Trae around for so many easy feeds.

It's our version of Matty Ice to Julio.

That's true. Trae has made life easier for everyone else. Collins doesn't get the same looks with Lin and he wouldn't be getting the same looks with Dennis.

[Jamaaliver]

That's true. Trae has made life easier for everyone else. Collins doesn't get the same looks with Lin and he wouldn't be getting the same looks with Dennis.

Now, I have to ask the question that will inevitably lead to bedlam and chaos in this thread -- would J Collins be producing at this level with Luka here instead of Trae?



I honestly don't know.

[Spud2nique]

That's true. Trae has made life easier for everyone else. Collins doesn't get the same looks with Lin and he wouldn't be getting the same looks with Dennis.

Now, I have to ask the question that will inevitably lead to bedlam and chaos in this thread -- would J Collins be producing at this level with Luka here instead of Trae?



I honestly don't know.

Good question. Tough question.

I honestly think the numbers would be similar but the ways he would get his buckets would be different. He wouldn’t be operating in the low post as much or be shooting as many 3’s but rather be on the end of more oops due to Doncic’s size adv over Trae. Essentially Collins would be a better version of what DeAndre Jordan has been for Dallas.

Trae is the best thing that could have happened to John Collins. I’m not sure how Collins felt after we drafted Trae in that trade, but if I were in his shoes I’d be much happier because now I get to show the world my overall skills as a basketball player.

[King Ken]

Collins and Doncic would be a nightmare defensively. Trae is a PG, you can always hide them. But if you hide Doncic, you can't hide Collins and our team defense will be always near last or last.

Trae just fits a lot more with most players than Luka does

[Jamaaliver]

Yikes! We're helpless without the JC kid.

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[jayu70]

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[WuriderX]

Pierce was on the radio today talking about John improving his defense. Talks about how J.C. is little passive due to not wanting to get in foul trouble. Pierce said that he is more concerned with number of shots changed than shot blocks.

[MaceCase]

Potential franchise cornerstone.

[Duff Man]

Hi there, Hawksquawk! Collins is becoming quite a force. He's just shy of 20/10 and is just crushing teams. Trae has really helped him elevate his game to another level. It's only going to get better!