When the Atlanta Hawks failed to sign John Collins to a rookie max extension, they opened the door for other teams to potentially sign Collins to a max deal in the coming offseason. This is why Dan Favale of B/R believes that Collins will be one of the top five overpaid free agents this offseason.
The other four likely to be overpaid are Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Norman Powell, and Duncan Robinson. Each one of these players has desired skills that will help many teams in the NBA, but none of them have the skillset of Collins and therefore he will command huge offers.
Where Collins has lifted his asking price is that he has shown that he is capable of averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds every night over the season. This level of production is coveted amongst NBA teams and will have many teams calling his agent to discuss terms.
The Atlanta Hawks may pay for the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes fallout
The reason there is going to be so much money about to be thrown at free agents this summer is teams were preparing their books to offer the kitchen sink at Giannis Antetokounmpo. That is if he did not sign his extension with the Milwaukee Bucks. Well, he did sign his extension and now there are a large number of NBA teams with large amounts of cap space.
The free-agent class became weaker when Antetokounmpo signed his deal. It is highly unlikely that Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, or Mike Conley are going anywhere. DeMar DeRozan is going to command max money. Other than that, Collins is the best of the rest. Here are two teams the Hawks may have to compete with for Coilins’ signature.