In 2018-19, John Collins was the Hawks' scoring leader, and at the age of 21, he had the second highest possession of the team.
The following year, Colin averaged a career-high 21.6 points per game, second on the team behind Trae Young. Since then, he's averaged second-best points per game for three straight years, even though last season's turnaround possession dropped to fourth-place on the team.
However, so far this season, Collins, in his second year of his $126 million contract, is averaging just 12.3 points per game, fourth on the team and fifth in possession of turnovers. The 25-year-old should have been in the prime of his career, having proven himself to be a three-point threat and his defensive consistency has improved. But if you watch the Hawks play this season, you'll forget for a long time that Collins was also on the court.
In his sixth year, he scored and touched the ball significantly in each game, scoring a career-low 18.7 points per 100 rounds, compared to 23.7% in sophomore years. Former Collins and Trae Young blocking combinations are now rare, and with Gallinari's sending away and Okongu's rise, the Hawks have rarely allowed Collins to play the No. 5 position again. In 2019-20, the striker played center 47 percent of the time, compared to 2 percent this season.
Collins wasn't comfortable and the Hawks weren't much better, after all, the forward still had the second-highest salary on the team. Under the current framework, the Hawks will become a tax-paying team next year, knowing that they will also face the problem of re-signing Dejontai Murray in 2024. To avoid facing repeated luxury taxes too early, the Hawks need to avoid taxes as much as possible in these two years, and cleaning up Collins' contract is naturally the primary goal.
According to a report by TA Legend Charanie, it is not surprising that Collins' name has been mentioned in multiple deal negotiations. It's not easy to find the perfect place for Collins, he is a player who is better suited to play center on the offensive end and power forward on the defensive end, and the contract is expensive. But breaking up is a more appropriate outcome for both the Eagles and for him.
Looking at the entire NBA league, there are many players similar to Collins, and they urgently need to experience the treatment of "human life".
Payton Pritchard Celtics
The Greens are a title-contendering team with Smart, Brogdon and Derek White, and it's almost impossible for Pritchard to show himself. The 25-year-old guard shot 40.9 percent from three-point range and has just one year left on his rookie contract at the end of the season. He's a valuable defender, just not as important in the Green Army.
The Celtics could try to use him as a bargaining chip to trade for an interior lineman. With Robert Williams injured, the Celtics could only let Cornet, Vonley, and Griffin, who were of limited caliber, try the rotation. For now, they can still maintain their record on offense, but given Lowe's injury concerns, it obviously doesn't hurt to help him find a spare tire that can share the pressure.
Evan Fournier Knicks
Fournier has a slow start to the season, which is bad news for him because the Knicks have countless shooting guard options and because he is not trusted by the coaching staff. It's hard to say with a 260-minute sample that the 30-year-old Fournier is permanently down, he may just haven't found his rhythm yet. With Fournier receiving $37 million in two years (2024-25 is a team option), it's not easy to trade him, but teams that lack bench projection and tackling ability can still consider Fournier.
Jaxon Hayes Pelicans
Last season, Hayes played as a starter for the Pelicans team that made the playoffs, and this season with the return of Zion Williams and the rise of Trey Murphy, Hayes has barely played time. His absence from pre-season due to an elbow injury further affected his rotation sequence, with Hayes playing just 44 minutes so far this season and being DNP in nine consecutive games.
Hayes is no longer a good fit for the current Pelicans roster, but he proved last season to be like a poor man's version of Collins: a great ability to run and jump, pound the basket and occasionally shoot threes. He's in the final year of his rookie contract with a salary of $6.8 million, and the Pelicans' total salary next year is already above the luxury tax line, and it looks unlikely they're likely to keep Hayes. He's only 22 years old and can help some teams.
R.J. Hampton Magic
Last month, the Magic declined to execute Hampton's fourth-year team option, which is understandable. The Magic already have 12 players on contract for the 2023-24 season, plus three draft picks and plenty of salary space. Hampton had a pretty bad last season, along with the Magic featuring Cole Anthony, Suggs and Fultz.
So far this season, though, Hampton has been doing well, shooting 14-of-32 from three-point range and 20-of-24 from the free-throw line. If that efficiency can be maintained, he will set a career-high on both field goal percentages. At the end of the season, the Magic can only offer him a contract with a maximum salary of $4.2 million a year, and if he is traded during the season, the new team will also only be able to give so much, and we saw something similar with Jaylen Smith.
Eric Gordon rocket
When did the rocket put Gordon? In Tate's absence, they put Gordon in the role of eyeing the opposing outside arrow, which is enough to show how awkward the two sides are. Turning 34 next month, Gordon still has a fight ahead, and he's eager to play on a more competitive team than a league for the young Rockets. Gordon's contract next season is not guaranteed, and this season's salary of 19.6 million makes matching difficult, but we still want to see him go somewhere where he can contribute more.
Mark Williams Hornets
Remember in the draft, we thought Williams from the lottery pick could be the Hornets' starting center? So far this season, they have kept Richards and Plumlee on the pitch, giving Williams a total of only 13 minutes to play.
The Hornets relegated Williams to the Development League, where he averaged 23 points and 15 rebounds in four games, with PER in second place. It seems unlikely that Charlotte will send Williams away, after all, they have just chosen him. But unless they rush to clean up veterans like Plumlee and give Williams a chance to play, we'll keep shouting: Release Mark Williams!
Matisse Sebul 76ers
Cybre is a two-time defensive player who still led the league with 3.4 percent steals last season — even his career-low. But now that Cybre has completely fallen out of the 76ers' rotation, they need to create better space for Harden and Embiid.
Admittedly, Cybre's offense sucks, but the fourth-year flanker can clearly play a role in some of the other teams. His defensive awareness and skills are historic, earning just $4.4 million a year this season and on the verge of becoming a restricted free agent.
Riejon Holmes King
Holmes has 3 years and $36 million on his contract, and it's not easy to trade non-top insiders at any time, especially if the Kings have all but dropped him.
Holmes' rebounds and blocks have plummeted this season, but he's a 29-year-old forward who played a qualified starter the year before and was the Kings' best player two years ago, and you always trust his throwing skills to show off on other teams.
Duncan Robinson Heat
Unlike others on the list, Dunro wasn't dropped by the Heat, but his role was already marginalized. The Heat helped Strus into the starting XI in the second half of last season, virtually dropping Dunroe in the playoffs, and now they're doing a similar rotation.
At the same time, Dunroe's projection performance is sliding wildly. In the 2020 Heat Finals season, Dunroe shot 44.6 percent from three-point range, slipped to 40.6 percent in 20-21, 37.2 percent in '21-22, and just 30.6 percent so far this season.
Dunro has a $75 million contract for the next four years, and it will be extremely difficult to replace him, and most of them will not bring any improvement to the Heat. But we still want to see Dunro change the environment and try to salvage his career.