Seeing that many of the players drafted at the same time have already received top salary contracts, John Collins gradually began to be dissatisfied with the five-year, $125 million "small contract" that the Hawks offered himself, coupled with the conflict with the team's core Trae Young, Collins submitted a trade application to the team this summer. Having never been able to find a suitable next home, Collins has still been pressed to the bench by the Hawks and cannot play. In the minds of many fans, Collins is just a data brush, a playoff soft egg. However, what is the truth? If we look deeper at this player, we can find that he is quite different from people's stereotypes, which can be called a clear stream of the league!
In 2020-21, John Collins averaged 21.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, shooting 58.3% overall and 40.1% from three-point range. In terms of statistics alone, Collins' performance is already the league's top interior level. You know, compared with team stars such as Embiid and Jokic, Collins, who is the second in charge of the team, does not have much ball in his hands. In other words, he basically relies only on off-ball offense, and he has played a performance that is not inferior to other interior supergiants, which makes people admire his ability.
Collins is more of a blocker with the Hawks. It was in this inner-team environment that Collins honed his top-notch ability to run off the ball and block and dismantle. That season, Collins outscored more than 80 percent of the league's players in both conversion offense and secondary offense per round. However, in contrast, Collins is less efficient at offense with the ball than most players in the league.
It can be seen that Collins' ability to hold the ball is to be examined, at least for now. The lack of attacking with the ball means that he cannot create his own attacking space, let alone create offensive opportunities for his teammates by dominating the ball. So if Collins can't develop an offense with the ball, he'll be a top blue-collar worker at best. The reason why Collins' regular-season statistics look so luxurious, in addition to his excellent off-ball skills, is more dependent on the team's tactical support. It is also worth mentioning that Collins averages +1.5 per game, which means that the Hawks' performance does not change much when he is on and off the floor, which is obviously unjustifiable for a team's second-in-command.
When we evaluate a player's performance, we must not blindly judge his team environment, after all, basketball is a team sport. Before the Hawks brought in Murray, Collins had only Trae Young an All-Star-level player around him, and he didn't have any reliable teammates on the inside to help him share the pressure. Therefore, if you have to say that Collins deliberately brushed the data, it is also disrespectful to the facts, after all, Collins also showed a lot of sacrifice in the playoffs.
In the 2021 playoffs, Collins voluntarily reduced his shooting rights and focused more on the defensive end that would not be reflected on the data sheet. In the first round of the playoffs, Collins took the initiative to face Knicks star Randle, and under his strict defense, Randle shot less than 30% in this series. Facing the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, Collins was responsible for pestering Embiid inside and sometimes guarding Harris' shots from the outside. With the help of his excellent defense, the Hawks managed to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. In the Eastern Conference finals against the Bucks, Collins still helped the team win two games. You know, the Bucks that year eventually won the championship, and their Finals opponent, the Phoenix Suns, only won them twice.
From this point of view, Collins is not what people call a data brush, and he will take the initiative to make huge changes and sacrifices in order for the team to win, which is something that no player known for his selflessness can do. What do you think about that? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.