The NBA offseason is upon us and with the 2023 Draft less than a week away, the chatter has ramped up about the future of Hawks’ PF John Collins. This week, the Dallas Mavericks got involved in the trade talks for Collins with a proposed deal that would send the six-year veteran and the No. 15 pick in this year’s Draft to the Mavericks in exchange for Mavs PF Davis Bertans and the No. 10 pick.
While a deal for Collins seems to have been a long time coming, the question remains as to who will pick up the minutes left behind by Collins when he eventually moves on. Beau Estes, contributor for NBA.com, joined Dukes & Bell on Thursday and thinks that the Hawks already have a piece in place with the second-year small forward out of Duke who made a significant impact last season despite the limited minutes he logged.
“If you look at what AJ Griffin did, he was doing it in less than twenty minutes a game…this a guy, who’s a young guy, who shot a much better three-point percentage than John Collins did this year,” Estes said. “You allow him to, sort of, move into those minutes and get some of that burn…I think the Hawks may have something.”
With all the dramatic storylines heading into the NBA offseason; Victor Wenbanyama being the no-brainer No.1 overall pick to the San Antonio Spurs, the New Orleans Pelicans potentially trading Zion Williamson to move up in the draft and select Scoot Henderson, Estes thinks that the emergence of Griffin in the Hawks’ offense could be something that flies under the radar but could translate to some immediate success for the franchise.
“Teams can win championships now; teams can make a move in one season. Milwaukee did it, Denver did it, Toronto did it. It can happen and Atlanta is one of those teams that, if everything lands right, they can make a move and they can go forward in this league.”
