John Collins has every chance to prove himself to the Atlanta Hawks
Every young basketball player dreams of making it to the NBA.
It takes all the skill and determination they are willing to put in the game to get the results they want.
As a player gets older it’s generally known if they have a shot to make it into the NBA. They see the “Promise Land” and the dedicated do everything they can to reach it.
On Draft Night the players get to see if their childhood dream will become reality. Once they get drafted, the real question is; “What will they bring to their future team?” They get a chance to either prove themselves or just be another NBA bust.
One player specifically on the Atlanta Hawks has every chance to prove himself; His name is John Collins.
The Atlanta Hawks drafted John Collins in the 1st round with the 19th Pick Overall. Collins, the former Wake Forest forward, is someone the Hawks feel really confident about in the upcoming season.
Collins spent only two years at Wake Forest University, while making drastic improvement from his first to his second.
His first year in college, the 2015-2016 NCAA season, Collins averaged 7.3 points per game, shooting fifty four percent on the season, playing only 14.4 minutes per game.
In his second year John Collins made a huge jump, averaging 19.2 points per game and shooting 74 percent from the field. He nearly averaged six more rebounds per game while even averaging almost a double-double on the season.
But what does John Collins bring to the Hawks? How can his contributions to Wake Forest on the college level translate to NBA success?
As far as fit goes, the 6’10 forward is exactly what the Hawks could ask for.
“My biggest strength is my versatility,” Collins told ESPN’s Kevin Wang. “With the way this game is going, at my size, I need to do multiple things — pass, shoot, dribble and make plays.”
Playing next to Hawks veteran Dennis Schroder, and the big man duo of Ersan Ilyasova, and newly signed Dewayne Dedmon, John Collins makes the perfect back-up role player in the frontcourt that the Hawks desperately needed and found.
Not only does Collins bring an aggressive force off the bench, but he fits in perfectly with the Hawks offense. With the loss of Paul Millsap, Collins is able to take on some of those minutes and play similar style of basketball at the four position.
“My ability to play off the pick-and-roll, open plays for other guys and use my athletic body to catch lobs, that’s what I do every night.” Collins told ESPN’s Kevin Wang. “They are giving me free reign to do all that.”
At the summer league in Las Vegas, John Collins showed an ability to pass out of the post and shoot from further than the restricted area, something he wasn’t able to showcase within Wake Forest’s offensive system.
Even though he only attempted one three in his collegiate career, Collins has the athletic ability and mindset to develop and evolve his game as a modern big man.
John Collins is behind three other bigs on Atlanta’s depth chart, likely filling in a rotational role as the 8th man off the bench. But with hard work and determination, Collins could find himself playing vital minutes off the bench for the Hawks.