During this NBA offseason, rumors of the Hawks moving on from John Collins have again began swirling around as the team looks to bolster the roster with the hopes of reaching the peak performance of the 2020 season when they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
On Wednesday night during The Jon Chuckery Show, Jon was joined by Chris Kirschner, NBA insider from The Athletic, and the topic of the disconnect between the Collins and the Hawks over the past couple of years came up.
What confused Jon the most is the willingness of the Hawks to sign Collins to a long-term extension during last season even though, as of late, he always seems to be at the center of trade talks.
"I'm having trouble understanding where the angst is between the Hawks and John Collins. There is an angst between him and Trae (Young) but I'm old enough to remember Reggie Jackson and Thurmon Munson not liking each other at all and how many World Series did they win the 70's?" Jon stated before posing the question to Chris.
Jon added, "You make things work at times but if it's that bad and if it's really a problem behind the scenes, I guess I don't understand handing a guy $125 million hoping that things go away"
Chris is confident that the relationship between John and Trae was not a factor in the Hawks potentially trading away Collins. He gave his thoughts as to what the thought process of the Hawks front office was when they offered John the contract extension.
"When you look at the Hawks roster and how they're built and them wanting to improve, he really is the best trade asset they have." Chris stated. He thinks that, while the team does have quality pieces on the roster, none of them carry the value that John Collins does given the numbers on his contract.
Chris finished up his thought by stating, "Really, the only player you have to trade is John, so I think that's really the reason they've been exploring trading John and again giving him the contract last year, giving him the five-year deal, it's because to make trades happen in the NBA you need those pricey contracts."
So it seems like the Hawks were thinking two steps ahead when Collins signed his 5-year, $125 million deal last summer, granted that he stays healthy. Collins is potentially a top-10 power forward in the league, averaging about 21 pts/10 reb during his career, with an improving skillset.
If they were to decide to trade him at some point, they hoped to get an equal return on investment. Since this is the NBA, it's only a matter of time before we see John in another uniform. The question is really what will be the return when the Hawks decide to deal him?
So it seems like the Hawks were thinking two steps ahead when Collins signed his 5-year, $125 million deal last summer, granted that he stays healthy. Collins is potentially a top-10 power forward in the league, averaging about 21 pts/10 reb during his career, with an improving s
