One NBA writer has urged the Atlanta Hawks to trade power forward John Collins this offseason.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes thinks the Hawks need to trade Collins for “shooting.”
“Three-point shooting is valuable, and overpaid tweener forwards with downward-trending stats are not,” Hughes wrote. “Those facts complicate the Atlanta Hawks’ offseason, but they still need to move John Collins in exchange for some floor-spacing. In a perfect world, they’ll figure out a way to do so while trimming salary from a cap sheet projected to be about $10 million over the luxury tax line.”
Collins averaged 13.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists this season for the Hawks while shooting 50.8% from the field, 29.2% from beyond the arc and 80.3% from the free-throw line. He signed a five-year, $125 million contract with Atlanta in August 2021.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: John Collins & Atlanta Hawks Updates
Collins has career averages of 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He was the 19th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft out of Wake Forest.
“Trae Young is an expert in the screen-and-roll game,” Hughes wrote. “He’s an elite lob-thrower with arguably the best floater in the league. But it’s much harder for him and a center to execute in the lane when opponents don’t have to worry about their three teammates on the perimeter.
“Collins shot just 29.2 percent from deep this past season, continuing a four-year slide in long-range accuracy rate. Swapping him out for someone who can reliably knock down threes, ideally on a smaller contract, would help the Hawks keep their roster-building options open and address a key weakness on offense.”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: John Collins & Atlanta Hawks Updates
The Hawks lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs in six games. Quin Snyder was hired as head coach in February. He replaced Nate McMillan, who led Atlanta to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals.
Collins has been in trade rumors for the past few seasons. The Hawks always seem open to moving the 25-year-old, but they end up never pulling the trigger. It will be intriguing to see what Atlanta does with Collins this offseason.
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