Ahead of the Atlanta Hawks (15-17) home-and-home with the Chicago Bulls scheduled to begin on Monday, it was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that forwards John Collins and rookie Jalen Johson have entered health and safety protocols.
They are the ninth and 10 Hawks players to have spent time on the COVID list.
They join Trae Young, Kevin Huerter as well as Danilo Gallinari, Onyeka Okongwu, and a host of other reserves.
The Hawks just got Clint Capela out of protocols in time for their loss to the New York Knicks and will now have to sign a couple of power forwards as these new additions leave them with none healthy.
Chicago placed backups Tony Bradley and Alfonzo McKinnie on their sizable list on Sunday.
The Atlanta Hawks lost two more players in Collins and Johnson to health and safety protocols
Collins is averaging career-bests shooting 42.7 percent from deep with 2.1 assists and just 1.2 turnovers per game to go with 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds. Over the last 10 games, Collins has averaged 20.2 points, 8.4 boards, and 1.8 assists while shooting 51.1 percent from the floor and 46.5 percent from distance.
He had 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks against the Knicks.
In this 10-game span, however, his defense has fallen off from levels displayed earlier in the season.
Unless protocols change or players test out, these would be the earliest possible return dates for Hawks protocol players:
— Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) December 26, 2021
Friday at Cleveland: Trae, Gallinari
1/3 at Portland: Huerter, Williams, Luwawu-Cabarrot, Cooper
1/5 at Sacramento: Okongwu, Iwandu, Collins, Johnson
Johnson had played sparingly and almost exclusively in mop-up duty prior to the last two games against the Knicks and Orlando Magic. He is averaging 2.2 points and 1.3 rebounds while shooting 47.1 percent overall and 33.3 percent on threes thanks to averaging 2.7 points and 2.7 boards over the last three, one of which he was left with a goose egg.
The rook had a season-high seven rebounds against the Knicks and was 2-of-3 from the floor. It hasn’t been a smooth transition to the NBA level for Johnson but that is to be expected. And it doesn’t mean he will be any less missed for the time being.
One move announced in the wake of all this, the Hawks will sign Chaundee Brown, a guard-forward recently waived by the Los Angeles Lakers, to a 10-day contract.
That won’t solve their big man issues though.
Perhaps we see Gorgui Dieng start next to Clint Capela — something we haven’t seen for obvious reasons — with Johnny Hamilton called up from the G-League to back up the latter.
The Hawks also have forwards Justin Tillman and Tyler Hagedorn down in College Park. Neither has any NBA experience but that probably isn’t a prerequisite at this stage.