There hasn’t been any shortage of calls regarding the Hawks star power forward John Collins. Several teams are reportedly interested in trading for him prior to March 25th’s deadline, and the Minnesota Timberwolves are among them, as Shams Charania first reported earlier this month. However, as we know, there are always varying levels of interest, and it appears Minnesota’s is extremely high.
According to Bleacher Report, the Timberwolves are “dying” to trade for Collins before he becomes a restricted free-agent this summer, as they look to upgrade at the power forward position.
Collins has established himself as one of the most efficient bigs in the NBA, currently averaging nearly 18 points on over 53% from the field and 37.6% from behind the arc. A brief glance at his stats from 2019 to 2020, and you might think he’s experiencing a dip in production. However, the reason for that is more because of the Hawks offseason additions as well as De’Andre Hunter’s emergence offensively. Collins is still excellent offensively, and he’s improved tremendously on the defensive-end too.
Despite all of this, it doesn’t seem like the Hawks are committed to retaining Collins this offseason, and if that’s the case, a trade before the deadline may be what’s best. The problem is — ownership is hell-bent on making the playoffs. The Hawks odds of making the playoffs would almost certainly vanish by trading Collins.
Atlanta is currently the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, but they are only two games out of the 4th seed. If the goal is really playoffs or bust, it is difficult to imagine them moving Collins before the trade deadline. However, a lot can happen between now and March 25th.
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