Exploring where young Atlanta Hawks franchise cornerstones Trae Young and John Collins ranked in Sports Illustrated’s recent Top 100 players in the NBA ranking ahead of the 2019-20 season.
After a strong season for both of them, rookie Trae Young and second-year man John Collins of the Atlanta Hawks cemented their place among the league’s elite young players.
Young finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, while Collins continued his upward trajectory after a strong All-Rookie team selection in the 2017-18 season. Ice Trae also was named (unanimously) to the All-Rookie First Team in 2018-19.
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In Rob Mahoney’s Top 100 NBA Players 2020, Young was ranked as the 62nd best player in the NBA, while John Collins sits at #51 overall – just missing the clout of being in an arbitrary top 50.
In Young’s entry on the list, he’s ranked directly behind players such as Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Otto Porter, and one of the main nitpicks Mahoney has revolves around Young’s penchant for turnovers and his subpar three-point shooting:
“Young was the lead playmaker for the 23rd-ranked offense; while running that offense, Young committed more turnovers per minute than every player in the league save for James Harden and Russell Westbrook; despite his acclaim as a shooter, Young took so many difficult threes that he shot a Mudiayan 32.4% from beyond the arc…”
Certainly those are facts, but it’s also true that Young was utterly carrying a Hawks offense with very little help around him.
Also, Harden and Westbrook produce a ton of offense for their respective teams. So maybe take that analysis with a grain of salt.
Though only 11 spots separate Collins and Young, Mahoney is much higher on JC than Trae:
“This feels like the year that John Collins enters the public consciousness. There’s something in his game for everybody. Collins’ high-flying dunks give him some sugar-coated pop appeal; a blooming off-the-dribble game makes him a fascinating experiment for the die-hard crowd; and the Hawks’ upward momentum (along with Collins’ own Giannis-lite aspirations) make for some great narrative fodder.”
The comparisons to Giannis Antetokounmpo may be a bit premature, but they are certainly mouthwatering, but Collins must cement his position during the 2019-20 season by working on his defense in all facets.
Despite Kevin Huerter not making the list, it seems reasonable to expect him to next season, which means the Atlanta Hawks have one of the most promising young cores in the league – no matter what any lists say.