Atlanta Hawks: Grading the season John Collins bet on himself

Atlanta Hawks season highlights for John Collins

Collins had some amazing higlights this season. One of my personal favorites was when Trae Young passed him the ball and Collins hit the 3-ball to officially send the Hawks back to the playoffs. The moment was not lost one either player, as the celebrations were a joy to watch.

Collins also had 19 double-doubles last season, which may not sound like a huge number for a max contract type player. However, he was playing alongside the league’s leading rebounder, Clint Capela, meaning he had to fight harder to get the boards that he did.

Defensively, Collins showed that he was learning a lot from his front court partner. He had five blocks against the LA Clippers in a nine point victory. It was a game where he went a poor 4-of-11 from the field but had a huge impact with 11 rebounds and those five blocks. It was a sign of great maturity from the fourth-year pro.

What was great to see from Collins this year was his scoring prowess, even with the new veterans that came on board over the offseason. He had 21 games where he scored 20 points or more with seven of these being 30 points or more.

However, it was his career-high 38 point game against the Golden State Warriors which is definitely the cream of the crop. A couple of games before Draymond Green had proclaimed himself the best defender to play the game. Collins would have given him more of a basketball lesson except Green barely played defense on the Hawks star in the second half of the game.