01-20-2021, 02:33 PM
(01-20-2021, 11:46 AM)RDB Wrote: I don’t follow other teams closely so my knowledge of other players is somewhat limited...maybe others can fill in some blanks.
The player I find SUPER intriguing is John Collins. He seems to check a lot of the right boxes for the Mavs: basically 20/10 (per 36) for the last 3 years, super efficient shooting %, can stretch the floor, can create, rim runner, great P&R, can guard multiple positions (per Atl. writer, not my observation), doesn’t require heavy usage, good in space, and is only 23.
I know there was some discussion on this board about him late last year but I think it was mostly around TDL assets (or lack thereof). I have also read that there has been some friction around how Trae is running the team. My question is could the Mavs be LEGITIMATE players in free agency (if he makes it past the TDL)? Does he have any power or because he is a RFA, does Atl. hold all the cards on his destination? As a 23 year old who has likely not reached his ceiling, do others think this could be a good improvement now and a potentially great improvement in the future? He and C. Wood seem to have a lot of similarities but Collins has done it for 3 years and seems to be more well rounded.
I never understood why the Hawks didn't want to just give him the max and make him a cornerstone of their franchise with Trae and build on that, but they seem very reluctant to do so. I get that he's a bit of a tweener on defense ... too slow to guard stretch bigs on the perimeter and doesn't provide enough rim protection to plant under the rim. Also maybe his offense is little anitiquated and built around mid range 2, though he's very efficient at making them maybe they don't want to make it a feature of their offense. It's very strange. Maybe they just don't view him as a max player.