John Collins – Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks were in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, but they may very well end up missing the playoffs this season. All that could have gone wrong for this franchise has gone wrong and the future of John Collins seems to be in doubt now after he just signed a five-year, $125 million deal with the team.
According to Shams Charania ahead of the trade deadline this season, Collins has grown “increasingly frustrated” over his role in Atlanta.
Should the Hawks miss the playoffs, John Collins’ frustrations could very much boil over to the point where he wants out. Atlanta just cannot find any footing this season and with close to $40 million committed to Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic next season, the Hawks could wind up completely flipping their roster around in the offseason.
Everything needs to be centered around Trae Young for this organization and getting out of John Collins’ contract now could be favorable, especially if he is going to be a long-term headache for them.
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The Celtics could very well show a level of interest in trading for John Collins, even though his contract does extend long-term and would tie the franchise down to $75 million in guaranteed money through the 2024-25 season.
The Hawks have shown interest in Marcus Smart as a trade asset in the past, so maybe there is a big trade to be had here in the offseason of Horford and Smart for Collins and Bogdanovic or Gallinari.
