Atlanta Hawks: John Collins flirts with double-double in preseason opener

This offseason, Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins signed a lucrative new contract worth up to $125 million over five years. He spoke with Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on how it will impact his work ethic (subscription required) saying getting paid won’t stop him from continuing to work as hard as he has. He even vowed to work harder.

Well, while it was just the preseason opener, we already got a small glimpse of what could be to come this season.

Despite falling to the Miami Heat 125-99, Collins was one of the few bright spots.

The Atlanta Hawks need John Collins to consistently come up big this season

Collins finished with 14 points on 62.5 percent shooting. He only had one assist, but the Hawks shot just 23.7 percent, going 9-for-38 from downtown despite shooting 40 percent from the floor. The 6-foot-9 tweener big man, however, only shot one three. He missed it. But the shot selection and hustle he showed are good signs.

The stats might not jump off of the page. After all, he averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 boards last season.

And we’ve seen him put up 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds the season before.

But last season’s stats came in 29.3 minutes per game. He averaged 33.2 minutes per game the season prior.

Collins did what he did in the preseason opener in just under 22 minutes.

Now, that invokes the obvious disclaimer about it only being the preseason opener. But this is about the fact he showed it. And in that sense, that he did it in the preseason adds to it. Collins could have easily mailed it in. Especially with the Hawks falling behind big early.

They would rally after an early deficit. But the Heat were the anti-Hawks in that they were lights-out from three; canning 21-of-41.

With Clint Capela sidelined until the regular season, that left more opportunities for rebounds and putbacks. But we have already called for Collins to play center more this coming season.

Head Coach Nate McMillan has said that he will utilize the team’s depth and essentially run two units in the preseason. That means we might not see Collins again until Saturday when the Hawks head to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies.

After Trae Young suffered a quad contusion in Monday’s loss, one has to wonder if McMillan will opt for the safe approach with Collins. He could reduce his workload in that game, or even sit him altogether, in another measure to ensure the health of this roster when the games actually count.

As of right now, only Onyeka Okongwu will miss an extended length of time. And Collins showed you he was already in regular-season form.