John Collins’ game could blossom beautifully for Hawks if given time

Atlanta’s future just got a bit brighter after taking Wake Forest big man John Collins with No. 19. Collins will be a developmental project during his early NBA years, but it will be a project worth taking on.

Collins averaged 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game as a freshman. At power forward, Collins used his athleticism and quickness to dominate his competition in a tough ACC division last season.

Collins is a bit undersized for his position at just 6’9 with a 6’11 wingspan, but he can jump out of the gym with a 37.5-inch vertical. His speed and athleticism will be his greatest asset on the next level. He’ll use those to counter the size and strength of different opponents.

The NBA is going to be a challenge for him, but once he figures it out he’ll be a great complimentary piece for the Hawks.

Collins doesn’t have much range as an offensive player, but is great at finding his way to the rim and using his athleticism to finish there. He shot 62 percent from the field last season and most of that came from playing in the paint.

He’s a monster finisher with a head of steam on pick-and-roll dives. He’s also an excellent lob dunker and doesn’t need much space to catch and score over the defense. (Video via Frankie Vision)

He’s also fast enough to run ahead of the defense for easy buckets.

He’s not the most polished offensive player out there, but his athleticism can go a long way in creating different opportunities for Atlanta’s offense in transition and the halfcourt. Running hard is a great skill.

Despite him being undersized and without an exceptional wingspan, Collins was still able to corral 9.8 rebounds per game and 3.8 of those came on the offensive glass.

Why? Because Collins has a quicker twitch than everyone else on the floor. He gets up on his jump while everyone else is still trying to locate the ball. He’s just quicker.

Collins also has a knack for knowing where the ball is going to bounce. He seems to be in the right places at the right time. When you combine that with elite athleticism, his frame doesn’t really matter as much.

This is going to be a huge skill for him on the next level. Creating extra possessions on offense is always key and he’s one of the best at doing this in his class.

He plays like a center with a power forward’s body. He dominated on the college level with his strength and athleticism, which is great.

But he never developed a finesse game, and on the next level, everyone is strong and athletic. He’s going to struggle finishing over size and because defenses are better at helping on the pick and roll in the NBA, he’s going to struggle to get easy buckets.

He’s an inconsistent defender as well. He averaged 1.6 blocks per game at Wake Forest, but that was mostly just him using his athleticism against inferior competition to dominate. He’ll have to adjust to the NBA’s size, skill, and speed if he’ll be a productive player on the next level.

He’s a huge WWE fan. His favorite wrestler is Edge, who is one of the most famous and successful WWE wrestlers of all time.

Collins actually used Edge’s success in the WWE to drive his own success, according to this profile on Collins at the Demon Deacon Digest. Here’s more:

Collins was obsessed with wrestling, and would perform the various moves using his pillows as his opponent. He was inspired by his favorite wrestler, Edge.

“That drove my competitiveness to see him fight consistently — obviously, I know now it’s staged,” Collins said. “But everything is earned, in my mind. That gave me a little bit of an edge.”