When you first think of John Collins, what comes to mind?
Is it his electric chemistry with a young Ice Trae, carving their way pick-and-roll by pick-and-roll to the Eastern Conference Finals? Is it his ability to space the floor as an undersized big, pairing perfectly with inside big Clint Capela en route to carving out ample minutes as a prototypical modern power forward? Or to fixate on just one moment, is it perhaps his explosive alley-oop over Joel Embiid in the 2nd round, capping off one of the most electric postseason victories in Hawks history?
Unfortunately for Collins, these days of being an elite role player (and arguably even more) are well behind him, although his share of the Clippers' overall salary certainly doesn't reflect that.
The 26 million dollars on Collins' paycheck aren't helping the Clippers nearly the way Steve Ballmer imagined. Sitting at a dismal 4-9, good for 11th in the West behind the Suns, Jazz, and Trail Blazers, the vet isn't impacting the game in nearly the same way he used to for the Hawks.
John Collins is being pigeonholed into a $26M PJ Tucker role
A large part of John Collins' success early in his career was due to his ability to affect almost every aspect of the game. Be it dominating the glass from the 4, providing perfect weakside help rim protection, spacing the floor from all parts of the floor for Trae, or throwing down lobs in the pick-and-roll, he was truly a jack of all trades in Atlanta.
As with many teammates of James Harden are well aware, however, playing off the ball with Harden at the helm can significantly diminish your impact on the game.
While Collins has been able to knock down the corner 3 at a 45.0% clip to start the year, that's just about the only aspect of his game that's been a positive for LA, in fact, everywhere else from range has only seen Collins barely eclipse 18% from deep on non-corner triples.
While John Collins flounders off the ball, Harden's long-term running mate in Los Angeles, Ivica Zubac, has dominated PNR looks with the playmaker ever since Harden flew out West from Philadelphia. This, in turn, leaves the other three Clippers sitting off-ball, largely watching the primary action develop from a more passive role.
This leaves John Collins in a $26M PJ Tucker role. While the Hawks understood how to use Collins, his time in Los Angeles has been anything but a perfect fit - it begs the question, will John The Baptist remain in LA in February, or will a more savvy team able to use his talents more efficiently take a swing on the vet?