John Collins...Our Third Star

[DanSchwartzgan]

After such a good result Atlanta needs to think only about how to get player. Letting Collins walk is not it, they don't get cap space to replace him or anything. My prediction - they will match any offer and only SnT him if the return is very good. Kleber is certainly not enough, imho.

There is a pretty good Collins discussion on today’s “The NBA Podcast”.  Collins is strictly a PF in an era where the position is often played by two position guys.  He’s not a center and he’s not a SF, which limits his value.  One guy thinks he’s a $17mm/$18mm guy.  The other thought you might get as high as $22 million before he becomes a negative trade asset (all of which lines up with the point Tyler is making about attainability).

They also pointed out something that might override the “after such a good result” sentiment and that is their cap once Young gets his max in 2022 and all these young rookie contract guys want to get paid.  Next thing you know they are not these overachieving darlings on cheap deals that allow you to sign Gallinari and Bodgonovic.  They are expensive and all that salary keeps Atl from adding the final piece as they need to shed money, not add it.  The two points they made were 1. Atl could probably use a “consolidation trade”.  2. You can’t just match any number for Collins and expect to easily trade him.