Atlanta Hawks: Imagining the team without John Collins

The Atlanta Hawks are running out of time this season to have a meaningful impact on the playoffs. With only a handful of games left before the All-Star break, is it time to put the cue in the rack? Is it time to trial lineups that we could see next season, given the contracts which were handed out this offseason?

Part of this would be trying to play without John Collins as there is a really good chance that he will not be a member of the franchise past the trade deadline. The noises about the Hawks listening to offers on him raised in volume last week and the team even specified what they are looking for as a return for the four-year man.

While Collins is an extremely gifted player, he is yet to play on a team that has won more than 30 games in a season. For his career, he has averaged 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game. This includes the 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds he averaged last season.

Would the Atlanta Hawks be better off without John Collins?

While the simple answer to this question would be no, in the short term, they may be better off when they get all of their players back. Collins is a tremendous offensive player, but defensively he is not as strong.

However, at the moment Collins appears to go missing on the offensive end of the floor quite regularly. Whether he is not buying into the offense or is just out of position too frequently, when Collins is not on, he is not a threat at all.

So the question is, what is the answer for the Hawks? Well, for one thing, trading Collins so that they get something in return is a key to moving forward this season. There has been too much talk for it not to have impacted either the player or the rest of the team.