DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - The Atlanta Hawks are "becoming increasingly reluctant to part with forward John Collins in a trade, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
The Mavericks are very interested in acquiring the 23-year-old ahead of the March 25 trade deadline and proposed a trade package centered around sharp-shooter Maxi Kleber. It's unknown what other pieces were involved in the proposal.
With Atlanta climbing all the way up to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference after rattling off eight straight wins, combined with the fact that they haven't been "overly thrilled" with the offers they've received for Collins, a deal seems unlikely to come to fruition by Thursday at 2 p.m. CT.
Collins can become a restricted free agent this offseason, giving the Hawks the right to match any offer he receives. Complicating matters is the fact that Atlanta just dished out big contracts to Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanović, and Trae Young is eligible for a massive contract extension in the next two years.
Dallas could elect to wait till the offseason to make him a max contract extension offer, which would be difficult for Atlanta to match. However, if they don't trade for him now, another team could swoop in and make a move for him or sign him to an offer sheet this summer.
Collins is averaging 18.2 points per game on 53.8 percent shooting from the field and 37.7 percent shooting from three-point range.
Kleber is averaging 7.8 points on 47.1 percent shooting from the field and 47 percent from deep.
Radio.com Sports insider Brian Scalabrine joined the K&C Masterpiece on Monday to discuss a potential Collins swap with the Mavs, as well as Andre Drummond and Norman Powell's potential fits in Dallas.