The Atlanta Hawks are in desperate need for a second star to play alongside Trae Young. The Miami Heat showed us that if you have the ability to stop Young, then the rest of the Hawks struggle. This is not a knock on the rest of the squad, just on how good Young is and how the offense is structured around his style of play.
There has been an incredible amount of rumors around who the Hawks could get and how they could get them. To this end, Dan Favale od Bleacher Report has rated the Hawks as having the seventh best trade chip to get a star. What is asset you ask? It is none other than John Collins, the longest-tenured player at the franchise.
Collins is a near star level talent who is locked in for another four seasons is one of the few players left in the league with genuine 20/10 potential. That is averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game over a whole season. Only Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic were able to do this last season.
Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins should feel a little disrespected.
Collins was ranked as the seventh best asset to trade to help get a star. Sixth on this list was the seveth pick from the Portland Trail Blazers and fifth was the fourth pick onwed by the Sacramento Kings. That Collins, a known commodity is ranked lower than two lottery picks is almost insulting.
On top of that the fourth best asset is Desmond Bane who has shown that he will be something in this league but does not have the credibilty that Collins has. However, that is where it stops being insulting as the third best is Jonathan Kuminga who has the potential to be anything in this league and is a prospect worth building around.
Still, Collins abilities and weaknesses are know. He has the potential to be anything offensively given that he is always at the top of the NBA in true shooting percentage. He can be a successful contributor in the pick and roll as well as the pick and pop. He is also an incredible weakside help defender, especially at the rim.
The Hawks are reportedly open to shopping his salary around and will be looking to get something decent back for the five-year veteran. Let us hope it is the star that the Hawks so desperately need.