The Atlanta Hawks are looking at having a redemption season after their poor 2021-22 campaign. A bit part of their offseason was trying to improve the roster so that they can compete at the highest level in the Eastern Conference again.
There were so many trade rumors involving John Collins that you could not open a web browser without seeing one. However, their longest-tenured player was not the one traded when they made the trade that landed them Dejounte Murray, it was Danilo Gallinari.
This trade alone will see the Hawks making their way back towards the pointy end of the East. However, the Hawks also traded their jack of all trades, Kevin Huerter, in an effort to further improve their perimeter defense. This is something that the Hawks desperately needed to do and it is going to help Collins no end.
The Atlanta Hawks are stronger with John Collins as a help defender.
While Collins is not a good on-ball defender, his lateral movement is just not quite quick enough. However, with the players that the Hawks have added, Collins is going to be able to have a much greater impact on the defensive end of the floor.
Collins is one of the weakside defenders in the NBA. He uses his nuclear athleticism to alter the shot or block the offensive player. With players who can play the defense of the caliber of Justin Holiday, Maurice Harkless, and Murray to name a few, Collins will be able to cheat off his defender, getting more blocked shots and making it harder for the opposition to score.