John Collins...Our Third Star

[KillerLeft]

Collins is the best of Powell and Maxi offensively.  He can hit 3's and post up and PNR and Pick and Pop.  When in with KP, he can do the Maxi thing and let KP "get his" at the five.  But, Collins will require much more attention than Maxi because he can do MUCH more than Maxi.  Collins can also do the things Powell does.   The variety of looks we can throw at a team offensively would be pretty incredible.  Other than Embiid/T.Harris, it is hard to think of the current NBA front court that can do as much as a KP/Collins combo and STILL keep the lane open for Luka.

I agree with the above, to an extent. But, like @"Kammrath" said in another thread, Collins can't be Kleber and Powell at the same time. Sure, he possesses those skills at all times, but each action has to have a primary focus, and your many fine posts pointing out how well the Luka/Powell pick and roll works with KP spacing (at least that's what I got from them) have left me feeling like that is the way to go, if this KP thing has any chance of working. 

It's nice to have one player capable of playing both roles, but if KP isn't about standing in the corner to open up the lane for others, then I don't see how any problem (if you're in the camp who believes there is one) gets solved. Either they do what you've been asking them to do, which I think is run Luka/Collins like they used to and currently are with Luka/Powell with KP providing space, and KP hates it, or they go back to the five-out thing and marginalize a lot of what I believe people like about Collins by putting him mostly in the Kleber role. 

Further, is combining Powell/Kleber into one player all that much of a step forward if you end up paying him right at or above the sum of Powell/Kleber's salaries? I mean, he can only play one position at a time, so it's not that helpful to combine them, to my way of thinking. 

Maybe I'm missing something. I've been on the Collins train for a while, so I don't want to come off like I hate it or him. My overall point is that until the team and KP get on the same page, I'm not sure what changing the players around him is going to do for them. If KP isn't happy about this, or worse, if he really is incapable of being the difference making defender (at the 5) that we all believed the Mavs were buying, I don't think this helps.