#2. John Collins
In this writer’s mind, the choice between John Collins and our #1 player (who I think is fairly predictable at this point) was a simple one: Which player created more offense for himself and his team last season?
Of course, both John Collins and Trae Young are immensely gifted basketball players, but Young took his lumps early in the 2019-20 season only to bounce back stronger than ever in the final four months of the season.
Still, this entry is not devoted to Young but rather Collins. JC was 12th in BBall Index’s Luck-Adjusted Offensive On/off Rating with a +7.3 – ahead of a slew of All-Stars and superstars such as Bradley Beal, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving and even LeBron James. Not bad company for a 21-year-old in his sophomore season.
Even Sports Illustrated is fairly high on Collins for the 2019-20 season, expecting JC (and not Trae Young) to be the better player in the 2019-20 season. Though this writer disagrees, ranking Collins at #51 overall in the league does seem a tad low considering his incredible offensive output last year.
Expect JC to notch 20 points and 10 rebounds per game with relative ease, but a way in which he can vault over Ice Trae is with his burgeoning off-the-dribble game as well as more comfort from beyond the three-point line.
No matter what, 2019-20 should be a big year for John Collins on the Atlanta Hawks.