Why would you not want John Collins?

Explain it to me. Reason with me. John Collins has been in the league 3 years now. John has made himself a part of the community of Atlanta. He loves being in Atlanta and loves being an Atlanta Hawk. He “wants” to be here. On my show “Around The ATL” he said that, along with many other things. John has a goal to win a championship in Atlanta, to be in the Hall of Fame, for he and Trae to be a better duo than Stockton and Malone. You don’t want any of those things to happen? Why?

Tell me exactly how you did not see the energy John brought in his rookie season even though Coach Bud didn’t want to play him. He still averaged 10 points and 7 boards and 1 block a game with 24 minutes played a night….

In his 2nd year he averaged 19.5 points and 9.8 boards a game. Now I’m scratching my head, he had a 10 point jump in average and that’s a bad thing? Oh, he was hurt. Injuries happen in basketball. I didn’t see Chicago penalize Jordan for missing most of his 2nd season. How do you create the narrative that he is often hurt when he has only played 3 seasons and was hurt for one? There are dozens of players that have an injury history (Blake Griffin, Gordon Haywood, Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid, Derrick Rose, Chandler Parsons to name a few). But somehow they all have a lot of money in the bank.

For his 3rd season John gave the team 21 and 10 and shot 40% from three. How many power forwards in the league can say that? And yes there were games missed, not injury related, but because of John taking a substance not cleared by the NBA and he was suspended. Yes, this mistake did hurt the team. He apologized for it. But, he wasn’t arrested for domestic violence, getting into fights with people and charged with assault, he wasn’t running guns, he has not done anything to leave a bad mark on the team like some other players in the league over the years.

Going into his fourth season, what makes you believe that John all of a sudden is going to regress? Show me the signs.  Give me the indicators. Because I don’t see them. Remember, he averaged 21 and 10 with no real plays called for him. But more than that, why would you break up the most dynamic young duo in the NBA? Because Trae Young is still on the team. Again, he wants to be better than Stockton and Malone and all they did was give their franchise 15 plus years of winning and to conference championships and if it wasn’t for Michael Jordan, they would be 2-time NBA Champions….

We do not know why a deal was not reached, not really. I personally do not feel Travis would penalize John because of the banned substance incident, and definitely not for an injury (this franchise has paid how many players with injuries over the years? I bet we are still paying Speedy Claxton…Horford? Marvin Williams? Parsons????). The Hawks want John here long term and they’ve said that. And remember, a team is not obligated to grant an extension, he is still under contract. But they did make an offer. Maybe John turned down the offer because he wants to see what his value would be after having another great season, aka “betting on himself”. If that’s the case, watch out!!!

With all of the moves made by the Hawks in this past off-season, aren’t you excited for what is to come? John is only 23 years old. Look at the core players around him. Those that are so quick to say “bye John”, who are you replacing him with exactly? Below are current players that are listed as power forwards that currently make more money than John either by their initial contracts or recent extensions. You tell me, how many would you honestly say are better than John and who would you want in his place???? I only pulled 30 or so players and listed the past 2019 season stats to compare with John’s 2019 stats. Take a look at the players first and second seasons in the NBA…and explain how some of them warrant the extensions they have received..

Our number 6th draft pick Onyeka Okongwu and hasn’t played a minute. I have no problem with this, I just wanted to show I included everybody.

DJ Wilson who averaged 3.6 points and 2.5 boards a game.

Jabari Parker  8.5 and 3.8

Chris Boucher  6.6 and 4.5

Kevon Looney who got 3.4 and 3.3

Jamychal Green who got 6.8 and 6.2

Michael Porter Jr 9.3 and 4.7

Montrez Harrell 18.6 and 7.1

Lauri Markkanen 14 and 6.3

Nemanja Bjelica 11 and 6.4

Juan Hearnangomez 6 and 4

Jonathan Isaac 12 and 6.8

Mason Plumlee 7 and 5.2

Taurean Prince 12 and 6

Dario Saric 10 and 6

Al-farouq Aminu 4.3 and 4.8

Jaren Jackson 17 and 4.6

Jason Tatum 23 and 7

Pj Tucker 6.9 and 6.6

Cristiano Felicio 3.9 and 4.6

Maxi Kleber 9 and 5

Kyle Kuzma 13 and 4.5

Christian Wood 13 and 6.3

James Johnson 12 and 4.7

Thaddeus Young 10 and 5

Larry Nance Jr 10 and 7

Robert Covington 12 and 6

Kelly Olynk 8 and 4

Lamarcus Alderidge 18 and 7

Marvin Bagley 14 and 7

Jerami Grant 12 and 3

Danilo gallinari 18 and 5

Julius Randle 19 and 9

Domantas Sabonis 18 and 12

Aaron Gordon 14 and 7

Draymond Green 8 and 6.2

Al Horford 11 and 6.8

Kevin Love 17 and 9.8

Pascal Siakam 22 and 7

Blake Griffin 15 and 4

Now in case you didn’t want to take the time to compare, here are some of the 1st two years of a few players:

Pascal first year 4 and 3, then 7 and 4.5

Jonathan Issac just signed for 4 years $80 million. His first 2 seasons? 5 and 3.7 then 9 and 5.5.

Marvin Bagley 14 and 7 and 14 and 7, oh, and he was hurt his first year like John, but he still gets 3 years $50 million

Kelly Olynyk has a 4 year $50 million contract. His first 2 seasons? 8 and 5 and 10 and 4.7. He has never averaged more than 11.5 pts a game.

So you are telling me, these players “proved themselves”, and John hasn’t? Ok…

Is Trae Young going to have to go through this when it’s his time? Remember, many that said they were Hawks fans screamed bloody murder when the Hawks traded for him and he was drafted, cried foul when he played his first few games of Summer League in Utah, then downplayed his Las Vegas games, didn’t want to take notice of his pre-season, and after his rookie struggles, didn’t want to acknowledge he had a Rookie Of The Year season. Then Trae followed that up with starting the ALL-STAR game as a Hawk (never done before), was a league leader in assists (2nd) and scoring (4th). But I bet some of you still wish we had gotten Colin Sexton and you won’t say a word when he gets his money……

You don’t want John still after knowing so many players were AVERAGE and still paid big money? I really want to hear your explanation and breakdown on how over 30 plus players are not close to the production John gives you but you feel they warrant such a large investment by the teams they play for, but John actually “does” give you big production but it’s ok for him to find another team. We have a group of players that is leaps and bounds better than any other era in Hawks history other than the Nique years and we have them from scratch, all drafted players!!!!! With the free agent additions to fill in the holes from a year ago, we as fans should be so hyped and yet all I see is apathy for the most part.

Have you figured out why you wouldn’t want John Collins as a Hawk? Hopefully, if you are one of those people, this article will change your mind. And if you are a supporter and fan of John Collins, let him know that you want him to be here like he has told you he wants to be a Hawk for life!!!

Around The ATL is my radioshow where we talk Atlanta Sports. Listen to the John Collins interview here https://www.iheart.com/podcast/966-around-the-atl-46419279/episode/around-the-atl-episode-91-68658827/

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