![]() It’s not Young’s fault that the team’s playmaking falls off a cliff when he takes a seat, but there’s an argument to be made that his domineering style minimizes his teammates rather than maximizing their potential contributions, making the Hawks easier to guard than the sum of their talent would suggest. ![]() (More on that in a second.) From a team perspective, Atlanta’s offense has been closer to average than elite despite Young’s monster numbers, and often seems to bog down due to a lack of trust in the pass. ![]() On an individual level, Collins is a young big who finishes plays rather than creating them for himself he needs his point guard to share the ball so he can be as productive as possible as he goes after his next contract. This was reportedly not “the first time Collins has raised issues within the team to be more involved”. That prompted Collins to step forward in a team film session, according to Chris Kirschner and Sam Amick of The Athletic, and speak out about Trae Young’s stewardship of the Atlanta offense, highlighting “the need to get into offensive sets more quickly and to limit all those early shot-clock attempts that leave his teammates on the outside looking in.” Atlanta got off to a 4-1 start this season, splitting a pair against the star-studded Nets, but promptly dropped four in a row with a couple of unsightly blown leads. Some of it might have to do with vibes and the entrenching of a pecking order. So why has the conversation surrounding Collins in the run-up to Thursday’s trade deadline focused on whether Schlenk will move his second- or third-best player? That doesn’t necessarily mean Collins is on a glide path to All-Star starts and MVP votes, but it does offer some indication of how valuable he’s been in Atlanta’s turnaround. With Collins on the court, the 22-20 Hawks have nearly the same net rating as the East-leading 76ers when he sits, they get outscored by almost as much as the scuffling Wizards. After all, Collins ranks second on the Hawks in points, rebounds, and blocks per game. You’d be forgiven for thinking that sounds kind of weird. So, naturally, all anybody can talk about is when Collins will get traded. That shift, combined with a friendly stretch of schedule and the return of some injured players, has Atlanta in hot pursuit of its first postseason berth since general manager Travis Schlenk took the reins of the franchise in 2017. After three seasons spent mostly on the periphery of the NBA discourse-a period during which he popped up as a Young Guy You Should Be Paying Attention To, a Flying Ace Destined for Dunk Contest Infamy, and a Dude Surprisingly Suspended for a Long Time-the 23-year-old power forward is now playing a vital role on a Hawks team that has won eight consecutive games since firing head coach Lloyd Pierce and replacing him with Nate McMillan. We’ve met John Collins at a very strange time in his life.
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