Like clockwork, John Collins trade rumors are making the rounds. Earlier in the month, it was only hypotheticals. Now, there are substantiated reports coming from trusted sources. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported today that the Hawks have opened up preliminary trade discussions around the forward.
The Hawks have opened up preliminary trade discussions around forward John Collins, as interested teams inquire, league sources tell The Athletic. The Suns are a team showing desire in Collins, those sources have added, but they appear uninclined to take on the long-term money of Collins, who is in the second season of a five-year, $125 million contract. The Hawks don’t have an imminent deal in place involving Collins, those sources say, and executives around the league believe a potential deal will be weeks and potentially months in the making ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline.”=
This isn’t uncommon. Since the team acquired Trae Young, trade rumors have circled around Collins in Atlanta. He’s an efficient, high-flying frontcourt player that has been one of the most unselfish players in basketball. But so far, Collins is off to the worst start of his career. He’s averaging 12.6 points — lowest mark since the 2017-18 campaign — on a career-low 22.7% clip from three-point range.
There will be no shortage of suitors for a player like JC; the Suns, Warriors, and other clubs could all use a versatile forward like him. Another interesting wrinkle Shams added was the past reports of the Hawks engaging in talks with Phoenix surrounding a Jae Crowder deal for months. His mentioning of that opens up a bevy of possibilities.
I’ve seen trade hypotheticals where the Hawks land Harrison Barnes in a three-team trade that sends John Collins to Golden State, and those deals are laughable. It seems trades are generated to help the more recognized club get better without any regard for the smaller market teams. The Hawks would never agree to a deal like that. Travis Schlenk has bucked at trading Collins for years now; he’s not just going to ship him off for a bag of rocks now.
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Photographer: Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire
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